We first saw the women with golden necks being advertised as a tourist attraction. My mom was curious and wanted to find out more about these women, so she did a bit of reading about them. She read other blog posts and other articles about the Karen women, and how we could visit them. One of the things that came up in her research what that it was “unethical” to visit these women.

The Karen people are refugees from Burma (now called Myanmar), and the women that wear coils on their necks are of the Padaung tribe. Because of the civil unrest in Myanmar, many Karen people have fled to Thailand, settling mostly on the Myanmar–Thailand border (northern Thailand – Chang Mai). The Burmese military forces took control of Burma in 1962, they wanted to modernize the society. That means eliminating what they considered to be “primitive” aspects of the culture, including neck elongation.

So why do Karen women wear heavy, painful, and damaging rings on their necks? Well, from reading many articles, there are many theories on just why they wear rings. Even the Kayan women themselves have no direct answer.

Some theories are:

~The rings deter other tribes from taking the women and making them slaves

~It is considered as beautiful and attractive

~Wearing the golden coils makes them look like a dragon, which is an important figure in Kayan folklore

~Offers protection from tigers, who usually target the neck when they attack

~Tourists find them interesting

Whatever their reason for wearing these rings are, these give them their cultural identity and plays a part in who they are.

Girls start wearing coils, usually made of brass, as early as five years old. One ring weighs around four-and-a-half pounds (2kg) to start. As the girl grows taller, larger sets of coils replace the outgrown ones. It may look like the rings cause the neck to stretch, but in reality the weight of them is pushing the collar bone down, causing the vertebrae in the spine to collapse. Their necks aren’t 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 getting longer, it’s mostly an illusion. I saw some pictures online that the women have bruises on their neck after removing the coils. There are many complications from wearing these rings, but the the Karen people are loyally keeping the tradition alive. I have so much respect for them wearing those rings, because I tried on some for the picture, and they were really heavy. The set that I tried on was 3 kg. The girl who put it on my wore 5kg. The rings are like a weighted necklace that you can never get off again. The Karen women only remove their rings when giving birth. Whenever the rings are removed, their elongated neck is weaker.

In the 1980s and 90s, the Karen started settling in Chang Mai. In their new found “home” in Thailand, the Thailand government doesn’t allow them to leave the refugee camp. They were granted stay as economic immigrants, not refugees, so they were put in guarded villages. The Karen people are not allowed to work outside the village so they are now a tourist attraction. The landowners let them stay in the land, and they charge a fee for tourists that want to see them in person. On one YouTube video, a Karen woman said that every month they receive a sack of rice and stipend. The landowner sends their children to go to school, however it’s only until grade six, so Karen children living in this village have a very basic education.

The Karen people are mostly in Northern Thailand, but the Karen village we visited was just an hour outside Bangkok. Chang Mai is an hour and fifteen minutes flight direct from Bangkok. All we knew about the Karen village was that this was where the ladies with long necks were living, and that there was a fee to go and visit them. That was what we were expecting, a village with homes filled with families—a community, and ladies with long necks. But this… this is not what we saw.

Our driver drove us to Chang Puak Camp. There’s quite a lot of other things to see and lots to do at Chang Puak Camp. There’s a big billboard on the side of the highway advertising elephant shows, tiger shows, crocodile shows, elephant rides, ATV rides, and more! We were only interested in seeing the Karen long-neck women though, so we got modified passes that let us only go to the village, and nothing else within the park. Tour operators offered to sell us other tickets, like ones to the floating market, tigers, other animals, etc, but we refused because we already saw the floating market, had no interest in seeing the tigers or any other animals, and just wanted to see the Karen women.

From the entrance gate we rode a golf cart, and it drove us directly to the gate of the village. There are about 10-20 huts in the village. I assumed that the Karen were from northern Thailand, and the owner of the camp asked permission to the Thai authorities to bring them to the camp to attract more tourists. When we arrived at the village, it was around 11am. We were the first ones. They were very friendly and welcoming to have a photo with them. The women let you try on the rings, and then they will politely ask you to look at their wares. This is really the only way that they make their own money. They sell colorful and beautiful scarves, handwoven by them. They come in many different colours, and patterns. They also sell jewelry and toys for kids, like wooden swords and dolls.

My parents bought me a scarf and a shoulder bag. We wished that we could’ve bought more to support these women, but they only accepted cash and we didn’t have a lot of it at the time. We had to use our Canadian money to add to the remaining price of the bag as well. We hoped that they could find someone to change the currently from CAD to Thai Baht.

Click the link Longest neck in the world.

In March 2021, thousands of people from Karen or Kayin state (not the one from Padaung Tribe), of Myanmar have fled to Thailand because of airstrikes by Myanmar’s military. Karen National Union (KNU) that represents Karen people are in war against Myanmar government. Many civilians have been displaced. The Thailand government didn’t want to let them in the country, and they were ordered to go back. But they can’t go back so they are staying at the refugee camp at the border. The United Nations and the Thai government are helping them for now.

I need you to imagine something for a second: Imagine that you’re one of these Karen women. Your country is torn by war, and the Thailand government has the option of living in a village, with better living conditions than that of the refugee camps—there’s only one thing that you need to do. Wear the rings on your neck, and live in a tiny village, letting to tourists come to visit you. Your other option is to live in a refugee camp near the Thai border, with a tent for a house. Which one would you choose?

In a perfect world, the Karen women could live free, without having to live in a theme park as a human tourist attraction. But we do not live in a prefect world, and here are these ladies that I had the privilege of meeting and supporting by being a tourist, which is the only way that these women make their money. Without tourism, who knows what would happen to them.

Visiting the Karen women was an experience that I’ll never forget, and I wish that one day they will be able to have a better life.