Meeting and Learning about the Kayan Long Neck Tribe in Chiang Rai

Since our goal for our Chiang Rai trip was to relax, we didn’t want to hit all the tourist attractions therefore didn’t sign up for any tours. However, there was one thing that was on our list of must do – a visit to the Long Neck Village.

I found that most of the tours included visits and stop always at a couple of temples and other sites. Not interested in visiting any other sites, we approached the hotel front desk after breakfast asking the staff about visiting the long neck village only. I was happy to find out that we could hire a taxi which would take us directly to the Long Neck Village, with the driver waiting for us while we could spend sometime there and then the taxi would bring us back - all that for 500 Bhat, about Can.$30.00! Loved it!

 

 

 

  This time we had a real taxi vehicle, unlike the previous ride with the elephant tour. The taxi ride took less than 30 minutes, not too far from Chiang Rai. The driver dropped us off at the entrance and waited for us outside.

 

 

  We visited the Long Neck Karen Village, a tourist destination in Northern Thailand, home to the Kayan Lahwi (Padaung) people and a subgroup of the Karen ethnic minority. Arriving at the site, we paid an entrance fee to enter the village. It was drizzling that day and we needed to be careful while hiking down the dirt paths leading us to four or five different villages. It looked like there were only a handful of people living in these villages. Each of these small villages had a couple of inhabitants displaying and selling their handicrafts and souvenirs to visitors.

The "Long-Neck" people, who call themselves the **Kayan Lahwi**, are not originally from Thailand. They are an ethnic minority group from the Kayah State in neighboring Myanmar (Burma). They came to Thailand primarily as refugees fleeing a brutal and long-standing civil war between the Myanmar military and various ethnic minorities in their home region. Starting in the late 1980s and early 1990s, groups of Kayan people crossed the border into Northern Thailand seeking safety.

  The Thai government did not grant them official refugee status but allowed them to settle in designated villages, which have since become major tourist attractions.

Since it was raining that day, the were few visitors to the village. Initially it was just my husband and I exploring on our own. When a larger group of tourists arrived, a few women dressed in their colourful costumes assembled and started to chant their tribal songs. After their performance, we were allowed to take some pictures with them.

There were not too many villagers at all. Not sure if they actually lived in these huts full time. The biggest village was located at the last section of the village - the Long Neck tribe.

There were stalls lined on both sides of the mud road all displaying the same kinds of crafts – hand woven scarves, hand crafted wooden long neck women statues etc. We were curious about the practice of women wearing metal coils around their neck and learned that the practice of wearing brass neck coils is a deeply rooted cultural tradition specific to the Kayan Lahwi women.

The primary reason for women wearing these coils is their cultural standards of beauty. A long neck with many coils is considered the epitome of femininity and elegance. The practice is strictly gendered. The coils are a central part of their cultural identity, marking them as Kayan women. It is a tradition meant to enhance female beauty and signify a girl's transition into womanhood. The first coils are typically fitted on a girl when she is around 5 years old, and more coils are added over time.

We bought a couple of wooden crafted items from one lady and two hand woven scarves from another stall. The ladies were very friendly. One of them even volunteered to put a metal coil on my neck. The metal coli was like a necklace which had a clasp that could be opened and closed at the back. The metal coil could weigh up to 2 -3 kg.

Our tour guide also told us one of the interesting reasons for Kayan women wearing the metal coils. It was to defend against tiger bites. Historically, the Kayan males had always gone out for hunting leaving the women and children behind in their dwellings sometimes for days. While the men were away, tigers would come and attack the women delivering the fatal attacks by grabbing and biting the women's necks. By wearing the metal neck coils, the women could save themselves from these fercious deadly bits.

After visitng the village, I had some mixed feelings as we learned that some of these villages are not traditional, free-living villages. They are, in effect, **controlled tourist sites**. the Kayan people, particularly the women, generate income by selling handmade textiles and souvenirs to tourists. Their ability to live and work outside these villages is legally restricted.

 

I was glad that we visited the Long Neck Village in Thailand as we have seen some reporting on TV. However, there have been some debates about whether visiting the Long Neck Village is an ethical thing to do. Sone of the concerns involve the villages being likened to "human zoos" or "prisons" where resdients have limited freedom.Many toursits choose not to visit becasue they do not want to support the exploitation of this tribe, or becasue the villages are deemed to be faked and have been created for the purposes of tourism.

  After visiting and talking with the Long Neck Tribe, I found that the Kayan women were genuinely happy to see tourists visiting them as their purchase of the souvenirs and handicrafts was an important source of income for them. If you are travelling to Thailand, one of the best way to support the Kayan people will be to visit them in their villages and purchasing handicrafts directly from them. We were glad we did just that!

  RT, Long Neck Karen Village,

  Around Chiang Rai, Thailand