Are Long Neck People Prisoner In There Own Village?

[Sandman77]

Hello!

a couple of time ago,i see a documentary,on german television zdf,about the long neck people,in the report the talk,that long neck people,cannot leave there own village,,when the "boss" of the village would not allowed this espasaly during the tourist season!

from the money,and daily income,from the tourist ,the village people got only the food for daily life!

can someone confirm this,what happen behind the scenes?

most of the villages,i visit,was not orignal,like in the past,was moved to another place,and rebuild in original style!

but what was the reason,that most of the villages moved away from his original place?

[smokie36]

What nonsense....the entire village has been in the UK competing in the Olympic hide and seek competition.

[SimonD]

I have heard and read about similar concerns. These issues have been widely reported in the free, western media: that Thailand denies basic human rights to, and oppresses, certain indigenous ethnic groups, exiled or displaced peoples' within its borders but that may be too hot a potato for this forum.

There is only so much 'looking the other way' one can do and retain self-respect.

[theblether]

There are people on the forum that have an indepth knowledge of this issue.

Against my better judgement I agreed to accompany my lady and her friend to a long neck village by Mae Hong Son. I didn't like the set up......I didn't like the paying in to see the "attraction" part......and I didn't like having to run a gauntlet of market stalls to get down to the village.

When I got to.the village there were kids playing in.the stream........kids playing some kind of skipping game and.they were totally engrossed in what they were doing. It turned out that my ladies friend knew a lot of the long neck tribe and I was lucky to be treated as a guest not a tourist. I had taken a lot of 20 baht notes with me as I knew I was unlikely to buy much, if anything.

I dispersed all of the notes........partook in some bow and arrow lessons and had a better time than I thought however!!........I certainly feel uncomfortable with the whole set up......I believe these beautiful people are refugees and are disenfranchised.

I walked away feeling that I had witnessed life on the edge and it wasn't a good feeling.

[Beetlejuice]

I have always believed that this practice of tribal tradition is cruel and barbaric. I have never visited these tribes as it`s something I have no wish to see.

In actuality, it is not their necks that are extended but the metal rings are placed one at a time over the years and slowly the weight of the brass pushes the collarbone down and compresses the rib cage, which I would guess must be a painful and agonising process. Over time the neck muscles become weak and it is said that if the rings are removed, the neck can no longer support the head and they can die.

So in fact these people do become prisoners of their community because that’s the only place they are able to function with brass rings supporting their necks.

This practice should really be outlawed and those people re-educated on how to live without the rings.

[wellred]

Does anyone know why they wear the rings? What's the significance of having them and by extension - the 'long necks'?

[kotsak]

Does anyone know why they wear the rings? What's the significance of having them and by extension - the 'long necks'?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayan_people_(Burma)#Brass_coils

[Mosha]

They are The Kayan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayan_people_%28Burma%29

[ArtVandalay84]

From what I understand, the Thai government would rather keep them as perpetual tourist attractions, than ever give them any rights. I've been to a Karen village near Chiang Mai and to me the whole thing seemed pretty phony baloney. Most of what I know comes from this video and other ones like it. Just how legitimate the video is, I can't say for certain but here ya go.

[GuestHouse]

Legally speaking, as TheBletherer points out, these people are refugees registered with the UNHCR and entitled to protection under the conventions of the UNHCR, to which Thailand is a signatory nation.

The treatment by Thailand of these people, in particular the displaying of the these people as a tourist attraction breaches the UNHCR Convention on the treatment of refugees to which Thailand is a signatory.

The UNHCR are of course out having high tea with the Bangkok based embassy staffs and to my knowledge have only once intervened in the treatment of these people. That, ten or so years ago when foreign reporters turned up a news story that a group of these people had been moved to Chiang Mai and were being kept under armed guard in a 'Tourist Village'.

The UNHCR did intervene and have them returned to the Tourist Village near MHS - but in truth this is a registered refugee camp and should not be open to tourists.

But this is Thailand.

[Mosha]

I remember either a BBC or Discovery episode. It was following one of the young women. She was at the time trying to get to Australia. Her and a lot of others refused to wear these ringss. They don't actually stretch the neck, but depress the bones below the neck. According to the programme I watched.

Edited August 15, 2012 by Mosha

[edwinchester]

I have always believed that this practice of tribal tradition is cruel and barbaric. I have never visited these tribes as it`s something I have no wish to see.

In actuality, it is not their necks that are extended but the metal rings are placed one at a time over the years and slowly the weight of the brass pushes the collarbone down and compresses the rib cage, which I would guess must be a painful and agonising process. Over time the neck muscles become weak and it is said that if the rings are removed, the neck can no longer support the head and they can die.

So in fact these people do become prisoners of their community because that’s the only place they are able to function with brass rings supporting their necks.

This practice should really be outlawed and those people re-educated on how to live without the rings.

I saw a programme on tv a while ago that dealt with a long neck who removed the rings. She was absolutely fine physically apart from the depressed shoulders and suffered no effect. Mentally though she wanted them put back in place and this is what she did.

[isanbirder]

They call themselves the Padaung. This book was written by a Padaung man who somehow got into university, joined the Karen rebels, escaped to Thailand, was sponsored by a Cambridge don, and got a degree in English from Cambridge. The book is immensely interesting, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about these people.

Pascal Khoo Thwe, From the Land of Green Ghosts.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Lot of nonsense in this topic, starting with ZDF.

Other gems:

* 'Indegenous' (they're refugees / migrants from Burma)

* 'Rings' (it's a coil)

* If they take it of they die. (common and persistent one.)

That said, it's of course a tourist zoo, and the it does force young girls to wear it as it generates income. So it's still not a type of tourism that I'm completely comfortable with. (As opposed to sex tourism, which is of course fine. )

[toybits]

They are virtual prisoners in these FAKE villages. One of these Potemkin villages in Chiang Rai province even has a collection of other "hard to find" tribal groups all housed in one location. Visitors learn nothing from the visits because there is hardly any documentation about those tribal groups. Tourists rely totally on tour guides who often will not tell the truth about the situation in this village. There is a conspiracy between the management of these Human Zoos, Tour guides, bus drivers who all benefit from this activity. I can only speculate which other groups are in this conspiracy. While life for these Padaung or "Long Neck Karen" villagers may be better here in these human zoos, the fact that they are being shamelessly exploited does not make it easier to accept.

[lovelomsak]

It has always been my understanding that these "tourist tribes" are slaves of the stronger dominant Karen tribes. Be it wherever they originate from. The Karen control them completely.