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Agence France-Presse

Wielding a cumbersome tattoo gun with his small hands swamped in surgical gloves, nine-year-old Napat Mitmakorn expertly inks the pattern of a fanged serpent on a man’s upper thigh.
“I want to be a tattoo artist and open my own tattoo parlour,” he says in his booth at a Bangkok tattoo expo, where fascinated attendees paused to film his work.
“I like art so I like to tattoo.”
Tattooing is a centuries-old tradition in Thailand, where tattoo parlours are omnipresent and offer designs ranging from the ancient and spiritual to the modern and profane.


Napat’s father, Nattawut Sangtong, said he introduced his son – who goes by the nickname “Knight” – to the craft of tattooing to swerve the pitfalls of contemporary childhood.
“I just wanted to keep him away from his phone because he was addicted to gaming and had a short attention span,” said the 38-year-old, also an amateur tattooist, who works at a block printing factory.

The father-son duo together learned from TikTok tutorials and practised on paper before graduating to artificial leather simulating human skin, and then the real thing.
Knight said he swiftly picked up the skills because art is his favourite school subject. Recognising his son’s talent, Nattawut now coaches him in two-hour sessions three days a week.
“It’s not just tattooing, it’s like meditation,” Nattawut said.
The pair run a TikTok channel together – “The Tattoo Artist with Milk Teeth” – where they live-stream Knight’s sessions and sometimes draw hundreds of thousands of viewers with a single clip.
His session at the Thailand Tattoo Expo was his public debut, as he tattooed his uncle for a second time – marking him with an eight-inch (20 centimetre) mythical Naga serpent.
Unfazed by the techno music blaring from massive speakers, Knight predicts the creature from Hindu and Thai folklore will take 12 hours to complete.

For now, his father insists he only works on family and friends – opening up to public clients would require more rigorous hygiene training.
But Naruebet Chonlatachaisit, Knight’s uncle, is relaxed as the tattoo takes shape on his left leg. “I trust him, and I think he’ll only improve,” he says.
Knight was one of nearly 200 artists at the Thailand Tattoo Expo – but drew outsize attention among the crowds of thousands of visitors.
Office worker Napat Muangsawang stopped by the boy’s booth to admire his meticulous artistry.
“It’s quite amazing. Tattooing isn’t easy,” he said. “It’s not like drawing on a paper where you can just erase it.”


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TikTok-viral tattoo artist Knight is 9 years old, and wants to open his own parlour

Napat Mitmakorn goes by the nickname “Knight”. Tattooing is a centuries-old tradition in Thailand. Photo: AFP

Nine-year-old Napat Mitmakorn, a Thai child tattoo artist, works on his uncle’s tattoo at the 2025 Thailand Tattoo Expo in Bangkok. Photo: AFP

Nine-year-old Napat Mitmakorn, a Thai child tattoo artist, works on his uncle’s tattoo with his father, Nattawut Sangtong (right), at the 2025 Thailand Tattoo Expo in Bangkok. Photo: AFP

Art lovers will adore this viral vending machine trend that spits out a US$1 print

One of Anastasia Inciardi’s art-vending machines. Photo: Instagram/inciardi

Anastasia Inciardi’s art-vending machine in New York. Aided by Instagram and TikTok, the artist has started a bit of a trend in the United States of repurposed vending machines that sell art prints. Photo: Instagram/inciardi

A print by Anastasia Inciardi that comes from an art-vending machine. Photo: Instagram/inciardi

Anastasia Inciardi’s art-vending machine. Photo: Instagram/inciardi

One of artist Fabiola Lara’s miniature print dispensers in the US city of Philadelphia. Photo: Instagram/fabiolitadraws

The Korean tiger mum is called ‘Daechi mom’ and she’s been sent up brilliantly on YouTube

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Parents wait outside a famous language academy in Daechi-dong, in Gangnam District in Seoul. Photo: captured from KBS’s In-Depth 60 Minutes

The “Daechi papa”, the husband of “Daechi mom”, is featured in a mockumentary. Photo: captured from YouTube

Scenes from ENA’s comedy show Mother and Mom. Photo: courtesy of ENA

Thailand prepares to relax alcohol ban on religious holidays to woo more tourists

Walking Street in Pattaya, Thailand. Tourists drawn by the country’s nightlife are often surprised bars close on religious holidays. Now the Thai government plans to relax its ban on the sale of alcoholic drinks during Buddhist holidays. Photo: Shutterstock

Tourists and visitors to Thailand are often confused about its restrictions on the sale of alcohol on religious holidays and at certain times of the day. Photo: Shutterstock

What Norway’s naked mega-spa is like to visit: a prudish Brit strips off for a ‘hugely liberating’ experience

A couple unwinds in the Turkish hammam at The Well in Norway, which has Scandinavia’s largest spa and one where being naked in the saunas and steam rooms is expected. Photo: The Well

Sauna-goers slap each other with birch-branch whisks at The Well. Photo: The Well

The Well is located in the forests of Sofiemyr, outside Oslo. Photo: The Well

While the space is enormous, the areas feel intimate and safe. Photo: The Well

The Well’s sculpture forest features captivating artworks by renowned Norwegian and international artists. Photo: The Well

An Aufgussmeister leads a traditional Aufguss wellness ritual in a 90-degree-Celsius sauna. Photo: The Well

It’s perfectly acceptable to go for lunch or dinner in your bathrobe (and nothing more) to The Well’s brasserie, and most guests do. Photo: The Well

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His dad started teaching him to tattoo to get him off his phone. Now Napat Mitmakorn wants to do it for a living when he grows up


His dad started teaching him to tattoo to get him off his phone. Now Napat Mitmakorn wants to do it for a living when he grows up.


Thailand

Offbeat