Thai food and Thai tattoos were on the menu for British singing and songwriting sensation, Ed Sheeran, during the Bangkok stop on his Asian concert tour, as he was inked with a Buddhist symbol and fed by a shophouse chef who has earned a Michelin star.

“I’m kind of nervous,” Sheeran told followers in an Instagram video after praying before a Buddhist shrine on the Bangkok premises of Ajarn Neng On Nut, a Thai traditional tattoo artist who has inked countless Thais and foreigners, including actress Angelina Jolie.

Ajarn Neng is a master of sak yant tattoos, a style of spiritual and religious tattoos indigenous to Thailand and Southeast Asia. Sak means to tap (with a needle), and yantra is Sanskrit for a magical design or text. Many believe that the sak yant symbols can protect those who have them from physical and spiritual harm and danger.

Sheeran, whose body is adorned with a trove of tattoos, still had space on his thigh and chose a symbol known as an Eight-Directional Yantra. “The piece goes to eight directions, so protecting you from all sides, and you’re in the middle of calm,” Ajarn Neng explained to Sheeran’s Instagram followers.

“Because you travel around the world with a sak yant tattoo, obviously people are going to be wondering why and through that, people can educate themselves. So, thank you very much for the awareness,” Ajarn Neng told a smiling Sheeran.

Afterward, Sheeran became the latest global star to sample the sumptuous Thai fare at Jay Fai, the modest shophouse restaurant in Bangkok’s Chinatown that has earned a Michelin star.

The artist dug into Jay Fai’s signature crispy fried omelet and was accompanied by Indian chef Gaggan, whose Bangkok restaurant has also been rated tops in the Kingdom by Michelin.

Other luminaries who have sampled Jay Fai’s dishes include Blackpink Lisa, Russell Crowe, Jack Ma and Martha Stewart, who called the goggle-wearing wool-capped chef “the best cook in Thailand.”

Photo courtesy of https://www.instagram.com/teddysphotos