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Bayside Bamboo Koh Jum
Welcome to Bayside Bamboo! Opened on the infamous Phi Phi Island, Thailand in 2017 by Liz, a Thai American traditional Thai bamboo tattoo artist, born and raised in Southern Minnesota. Now she travels between her two homes, Thailand and the United States, bringing her traditional art with her! For inquiries, please contact [email protected]
About Liz
Liz was born and raised by her Thai mother in the quiet town of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota. As an undergraduate, Liz sought out her motherland as a study abroad student, taking a break from studying Anthropology and Ethnic Studies at Minnesota State University, Mankato to learn about Thai life at Webster University, Cha-Am, Thailand. It was on that very first trip that she knew Thailand was where she wanted to be!
Fast forward a few years and a few attempts at a 'normal' life in Minnesota, she went back to Thailand to complete her Master's Degree at the prestigious Mahidol University. As a part of the requirements for her degree, she conducted social research focusing on the impacts of foreign labor in the tourism industry of Thailand, which brought her to Phi Phi Island.
After the completion of her research and subsequent graduation, she knew she would die leaving the island life. She had found part time job as a translator in an established tattoo studio on Phi Phi Island, but she was ready to do it different. In 2017, she started her Thai bamboo tattoo studio, Bayside Bamboo, with a very small crew.
In 2020, Liz moved the studio to the quieter location of Koh Jum Island, a mere 25-minute speed boat ride from Phi Phi Island, yet somehow set in a total other world. The hustle of mass tourism does not exist in Koh Jum and in many aspects, it feels like Thailand 20 years ago.
The break in her season allows Liz to fly to the United States on her off season where she has been doing Thai bamboo tattoos for five years. She is only in the United States during the summer months, so if you would like to try Thai bamboo tattooing but are unable to go to Thailand, make sure to contact her and get booked in! Her schedule fills up fast!
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Wanna know why I do what I do? Let me introduce myself with this short video about my art!
Liz's Work: Thai Bamboo Tattoos
Geometric and shaded eagle design, brain child of the client with a new design produced by Liz. About six hours for completion.
Red and black sak yant design. Many people do not know that red is also a traditional color for sak yant designs. Make your sak yant pop with a slash of red! This piece took just under one hour for completion.
Brilliant colors on this water color mandala piece! Including the color, this piece took approximately three hours to complete.
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Liz ~ The Thai American Queen of Bamboo Tattooing
What started as a scorpion tattoo ended up in the completion of a sleeve! The colors to follow were glorious! About five hours for completion, including freehanding the hand.
Beautiful galaxy color work by Liz, done by hand, Thai bamboo style. Including the color fill, this piece took just over two hours for completion.
A beautiful little memorial piece done by Liz, Thai bamboo style. This piece took about one and a half hours for completion.
Delicate linework produces an amazing lace effect! This piece was just over six hours with no assistant.
Beautiful freehanded sketch style lotus for this gorgeous client! Completed in just 1.5 hours, it is unlike anyone else's in the world!
Completed when to world stopped for Covid, this took approximately 12 hours, broken up into three sessions (cause we were not rushing). But the result was super worth every minute!
Another original mandala world map design by Liz! Liz loves doing original work, time permitting. If you are looking to get original work by Liz, make sure you give her enough time by getting your booking request in NOW! This piece took approximately four hours for completion.
Still one of Liz's favorites! This little Hamsa, complete with color pop, took approximately 2 hours to complete with the tiny, but perfect, details!
One of Liz's first original mandala's that she was requested to etch into skin, Thai bamboo style! This piece, with the dots, took approximately three hours for completion.
Liz was asked to 'clean up' some original work by a client and do the tattoo, bamboo style. The teamwork really paid off in this beautiful tea cup piece. Three and a half hours for completion on this piece.
Small, minimal but perfect! This beautiful client got a smaller version of hubby's lotus mandala, also completed by Liz bamboo style. This little guy took approximately an hour and 20 minutes for completion.
Liz really does love her mandalas, and her client's love them too! Another original design by Liz, this one taking three hours to complete!
Liz's first full color tattoo! Completed in six hours, all done traditional Thai bamboo style.
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Bamboo Tattoos in Minnesota? Liz Travels from Thailand to deliver handcrafted ink!
Delicate custom floral design with children's names. Amazing first tattoo! Just under 1.5 hours for completion.
Amazing custom tiger sak yant tattoo! Liz has the experience and knowledge to be able to customize sak yant tattoo designs, however, she is NOT EQUIPPED to instill any power that is believed to come with them. This piece was three hours for completion.
ReClaimed Jewelry: Liz's Passion for Handmade Jewlery Made From Upcycled Marine Plastics
Liz has always had a passion for nature and restoring it to its natural glory. An issue faced on many Thai islands is massive amounts of marine debris, including plastics, that wash up onto our shores during the rough monsoon seasons. While Thailand is a main culprit, she has found evidence of trash coming from as far as India, Indonesia and China washing onto our shores. Every little bit helps!
Liz and her small team gather items from the beach during our low (monsoon) season, clean and sterilize items before putting them into molded resin to produce unique and meaningful jewelry!
This brilliant piece from our Electric Forest line is made from green, purple and blue drinking straws collected from our beaches and made into something beatiful that can be worn with pride and share awareness of the challenges of marine debris.
We use a wide variety of marine debris, including straws, ropes and lighters, often discarded in bins that are then raided by our monkeys and dogs. Some have made it onto the garbage removal ships, only to be hammered by large storms that knock bags of trash back into the sea. Everything that can be used is used, from the creation of the Jumaica Bar on Koh Jum to small jewelry items in our ReClaimed Jewelry line.
This beautiful handmade bracelet was made with ghost ropes collected from our beaches. Contrary to popular belief, ghost ropes are not solely neglected ropes from our fishing industry. These ropes were utilized in the building of squid fishing cages by our local, small operation, fishermen. Large trawling vessels will scrap them from the bottom of the sea to the top of the surface, demolishing our small cages for small fisher families. Because there is no economic advantage from hauling these trashed cages back to the mainland for disposal, many large vessels will simply toss them over board, at a financial loss to fishing families as well as continued degradation of our environment. Any usable ropes we find, we reutilize in many ways, including making beautiful jewelry.
These beautiful slip rope bracelets are also made using discarded ghost ropes of a larger size. At only 100 baht in Thailand, 5 USD in the United States, they are an affordable way to simply show your support for our oceans and our work to restore them!
Liz and her work were featured in a newspaper article in the United States, bridging the gap between her two homes. Although marine plastics are found on beach front lands, the issue is a global challege that starts in everyone's backyard. Being mindful of your waste and its disposal, as well as supporting local efforts such as these, can help reduce your own impact on the environment.
So if you find yourself on Koh Jum and wish to support local efforts to reduce marine debris and support local families, stop by Bayside Bamboo Tattoo Studio or Jumaica Camp and Bar to purchase some of these beautiful works of art, help fund future projects, and share your awareness of our plight with the rest of the world! We are also looking for boutiques and eco shops that would like to display and sell our work, so contact Liz for more information!
