zReportage - Amazing Stories from Around the World
share
| about | 1:47 PST
search
 GO
HIDE CAPTION
audio, stills, text and or video: Go to http://www.zReportage.com to see more - Shrill shrieks pierce the humid morning air outside the famous tattoo Thai temple of Wat Bang Phra in Nakhon Chai Si, Thailand. On this clear, hot morning more than ten thousand have gathered to be a part of festival that honors Buddhist monks and others who ink the sacred lines into the bodies of the devoted. Through the morning, first one, then two and then many will transform into what appear to be an altered state and played out to the crowd of onlookers gathered around. These Thai men, all devotees to Wat Bang Phra, have entered into a trance called 'Khong Khuen,' or a magical force rising, and this is the festival known as 'Wai Kru.'
© David Longstreath/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 26, 2011 - Nakhon Chai Si, Thailand - Devotees to Thailand's Wat Bang Pra near Nakhon Chai Si gather for an annual ''Wai Kru'' or religious meeting to have their tattoo's energized by tattoo masters and Buddhist Monks. Most devotees believe that the tattoos are magic and will protect them from such things as bullets, knives and jealous lovers.
© David Longstreath/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 26, 2013 - Nakhon Chai Si, Thailand - Buddhist monks look on while while attending a festival called ''Wai Kru.'' Devotees have their tattoo's energized by tattoo masters and Buddhist monks.
© David Longstreath/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 26, 2013 - Nakhon Chai Si, Thailand - Devotees of Thailand's Wat Bang Pra have their tattoo's energized while attending a festival called ''Wai Kru.''
© David Longstreath/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 26, 2013 - Nakhon Chai Si, Thailand - Devotees of Thailand's Wat Bang Pra work themselves into a trance called ''Klong Khuen'' while attending a festival called ''Wai Kru.''
© David Longstreath/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 26, 2013 - Nakhon Chai Si, Thailand - Devotees of Thailand's Wat Bang Pra work themselves into a trance called ''Klong Khuen'' while attending a festival called ''Wai Kru.''
© David Longstreath/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 26, 2013 - Nakhon Chai Si, Thailand - Devotees of Thailand's Wat Bang Pra work themselves into a trance called ''Klong Khuen'' while attending a festival called ''Wai Kru.''
© David Longstreath/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 26, 2013 - Nakhon Chai Si, Thailand - Devotees of Thailand's Wat Bang Pra have their tattoo's energized while attending a festival called ''Wai Kru.''
© David Longstreath/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 26, 2013 - Nakhon Chai Si, Thailand - Devotees of Thailand's Wat Bang Pra have their tattoo's energized while attending a festival called ''Wai Kru.''
© David Longstreath/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 23, 2013 - Nakhon Chai Si, Thailand - Devotees of Thailand's Wat Bang Pra work themselves into a trance called ''Klong Khuen'' while attending a festival called ''Wai Kru.''
© David Longstreath/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 23, 2013 - Nakhon Chai Si, Thailand - Devotees of Thailand's Wat Bang Pra work themselves into a trance called ''Klong Khuen'' while attending a festival called ''Wai Kru.''
© David Longstreath/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press
March 23, 2013 - Nakhon Chai Si, Thailand - A devotee wears an amulet while attending a tattoo festival.
© David Longstreath/zReportage.com/ZUMA Press

David Longstreath

DAVID LONGSTREATH is a freelance photographer based in Bangkok, Thailand. Longstreath, worked previously at the Daily Oklahoman and then later the Associated Press where he won as a team member of the AP's 1992 Pulitzer Prize winning team for feature photography. Currently, Longstreath is a freelance photographer whose recent assignments have been the Asian Tsunami and the riots in Bangkok. (Credit Image: by © ZUMAPRESS.com):485


See more archive?