Long Necks in Thailand (video)
A video about the 'Long Neck'. Officially this hill tribe is called 'Padaung' it is a tribe that belongs to the Karen, they mainly live in NorthernThailand.
The Karen in Thailand live in the lowlands as well as in the mountains of the provinces of Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son and Chiang Rai. The Padaung in particular are known for wearing copper rings around the neck, which makes the neck appear much longer. In reality, the rings push the shoulders down. Stretching the neck is physically impossible.
Nowadays, parents force their children to wear these rings again. This is not only to keep the tradition alive, but above all to secure the income from tourism.
Thai government
Furthermore, the attitude of the Thai government towards this group is quite controversial. They would be stateless and more or less forced by the Thai government not to leave their village. Families whose wife or daughter wears the rings receive a small allowance from the government to maintain tourism in the places in question. The UNHCR (United Nations High Commission of Refugees) has even advised against visiting those 'human zoos' of longnecks. According to this organization, there is exploitation. Wearing the rings is disastrous for health, especially for young girls. Tourists would therefore do better to ignore this controversial 'attraction'.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/BL8ARB5FmsA[/youtube]
What is not entirely clear in the article is that they are refugees from Myanmar. Their statelessness and the fact that they are not allowed to leave the village (refugee camp) has nothing to do with wearing the rings. It is one of the few groups of refugees that has built up its own community and a certain degree of independence.
I could not find anywhere that the rings would have serious consequences for health. Incidentally, there are enough people in the world who do have demonstrably unhealthy traditions/hobbies/addictions, so there is no reason to condemn the Padaung for that.
If the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has nothing better to do than advise tourists whether or not to visit these people, I fear that world peace will soon break out.
I visited the longnecks in Mae Hong Son, arrived there I quickly discovered that this world famous tourist attraction is actually a human drama.
There were no other tourists at the time I was there and so I could talk to some people from the village for a while.
These people fled +/- 22 years ago from Burma, present-day Myanmar, where the military regime tried to exterminate this tribe and killed and raped many of them.
A large group has fled to Thailand and the Thai mafia probably took them from a refugee camp, divided them over three villages and turned them into a tourist attraction.
These people have nowhere to go, they don't have a passport or other documents, they can't go back to Myanmar and are therefore dependent on Thai whims and antics.
Some women told me that they do not want their young children to wear the rings, but that meets with resistance from the Thais there because believe me it is big money.
These people can earn their livelihood by selling some of the things they make, but as a tourist you have to pay an entrance fee just like in a zoo, disgusting.
The big money goes to tour operators, taxi operators, restaurants and hotels.
As so often, the people suffer when no one goes there anymore, but it is time for these people to get their own culture and habitat back, maybe this will soon be possible now that new political reforms are taking place in Myanmar.
Mae Hong Son is a truly beautiful place, accessible via a north and a south route. Indeed, there is a refugee camp of the Karen further up the road.
It is also true that these people come from Burma, and that the Thai government often does not always treat their minority groups very well.
I talked to them there for a long time, but they themselves thought that it was not bad at all.
By the way, wearing the rings does not cause any damage, and the neck does not lengthen either. It is the cheekbones that are forced down, making the neck appear longer.
I think Mae Hong Son is one of the most beautiful places in Thailand, and the drive there is incredibly beautiful. If you are easily car sick, don't start it, the road to it is notorious for that reason.
Further on is Pai, a kind of fake hippie town, if you don't like that, like me, you better skip it, for people who like that atmosphere it will undoubtedly have a lot to offer.