--- description: A tattoo artist who told his customers his work would make them live forever was fatally gunned down in southern Thailand early Monday. title: Thai Tattoo Artist Who Promised Invincibility Is Murdered image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Thailand](/tag/thailand/) ## Thailand Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Top Thai Tattoo Artist Who Said His Tattoos Conferred Invincibility Has Been Murdered by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 11, 2015 8:54 AM CUT by [Nash Jenkins](/author/p-nash-jenkins/) ## Nash Jenkins Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 11, 2015 8:54 AM CUT A tattoo artist who told his customers his work would protect them from harm was fatally gunned down in southern Thailand early Monday morning, [a local media outlet reported](http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1439208532 "undefined"). Authorities said that the victim, 40-year-old Khachon Cherdchoo, was a celebrated local practitioner of _sak yant,_ a Southeast Asian custom that ascribes spiritual power to body art. “He has many disciples and followers,” local police colonel Chalaermwuth Wongwiangchan said. “He has traveled to apply the _yant_ to many celebrities around the country and has also traveled \[to meet his customers\] abroad.” Local media reports that the perpetrator shot the artist four times as he walked home in Prachuap Khiri Khan province. Police have arrested three men on suspicion of involvement with the crime, but the assailant remains at large. What prompted the murder remains unknown, though police said that Khachon had a “dispute” with others in his community. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3992153/thai-tattoo-artist-sak-yant-khachon-cherdchoo-murder/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3992153/thai-tattoo-artist-sak-yant-khachon-cherdchoo-murder/"},"headline":"A Top Thai Tattoo Artist Who Said His Tattoos Conferred Invincibility Has Been Murdered","datePublished":"2015-08-11T08:54:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:04:05.134Z","description":"Khachon Cherdchoo was a leading practitioner of sak yant, which associates tattooing with spiritual powers","url":"https://time.com/3992153/thai-tattoo-artist-sak-yant-khachon-cherdchoo-murder/","keywords":["Thailand","southeast asia","tattoos","Spirituality"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nash Jenkins","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/p-nash-jenkins/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/thailand/","name":"Thailand"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3992153/thai-tattoo-artist-sak-yant-khachon-cherdchoo-murder/","name":"A Top Thai Tattoo Artist Who Said His Tattoos Conferred Invincibility Has Been Murdered"}}]}] ```