Thais Find Super-Human Power in Tattoos

Heavily tattooed men are pouring into Bangkok for the Wat Bang Phra, an annual festival celebrating the power of Yan tattoos. Devotees of this increasingly popular body adornment believe their ink gives them a wide array of super-human powers, which they demonstrate during the Wat Bang Phra by flailing about and screaming like lunatics, CNN reports.

Belief in the tattoos date back hundreds of years, and some believe they’ll offer special protection given the turbulent politics of Thailand. Others believe the tattoos bring luck, money, or women. “You can't control it, sometimes it controls your body,” says one man who came all the way from Malaysia for the event. “But it is a good thing, it's a good thing for the spirit to come to the body. It's a blessing.” (More tattoos stories.)