PADAUNG

The Padaung tribe is a subgroup of the larger Kayah tribe, which in turn is a subgroup of the
Karenni which in turn is a subgroup of the Karen. The Padaung have no written language and are
best known for its long-necked women. The tribe is named after the Padaung area, where most of
them live. There are about 10,000 people in the tribe.

"Padaung" means "long neck" in the Shan anguage. Their homes and villages are found scattered
in the area between the Kayah State, east of Taungoo and Southern Shan State. Some inhabit the
plains in the basin of the Paunglaung River which are also part of the Kayah State east of
Pyinmana.

The Padaung woman's traditional attire consists of a colorful, elegant turban with a short thick
loose shift and leggings. Padaung women wear a short, dark-blue skirt edged with red with a
loose white tunic also trimmed with red and a short blue jacket A turban-like headscarf is draped
around their head. When working they wear short- sleeved smocks. Amit R. Paley wrote in the
Washington Post, The traditional wardrobe for Padaung women is a red, saronglike dress with a
blue or magenta jacket and towellike head covering. Most distinctive are the dozens of rattan
rings that circle their waists." Men wear the basic Southeast Asian longji.

Padaung Long Neck Women

The Padaung's famous long-necked women wear brass coils---not rings---around their necks. A
symbol of wealth, position and beauty, the coils can stretch their necks over a foot and weigh
over 20 pounds According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world record for longest neck---
15 inches--- belonged to a Padaung woman. The Ndebele in South Africa wear rings around
their necks. Padaung means long neck."

The coils are made from brass and gold alloy. Because long necked women can't lean their head's
back, they drink from straws. According to the British journalist J.G. Scott there voices sound "as
if they were speaking from the bottom of a well."

Padaung women might appear to have long necks but this is an optical illusion. As the coils are
added they push the collar bone and ribs down, creating the appearance of a longer neck.
Actually stretching the neck would result in paralysis and death. Removing the coils does not
cause a woman's neck to collapse, although the muscles weaken.

Dr. John Keshishian, an American doctor, wondered what was happening anatomically to
elongate the women's neck. Did the wearing of the rings create gaps between women's vertebrae?
And if this was the case was it dangerous? After X-raying several long-necked women in
Rangoon he discovered that the neck was not expanding. Rather the chins of the women are
pushed up and their collarbones are pushed downwards by the weight of the coils, causing the
shoulders to slope.

Life of Padaung Long Neck Women

One woman told the New York Times, It can be a bit boring and hot and it hurts when you first
put it on...When you take off the brass you're a little dizzy, and for one or two minutes you
shouldn't walk. You feel very light and you have a little headache, like you've been wearing a
heavy backpack and you suddenly take it off." The women also wear more brass loops around
their legs which weigh up to 30 pounds. These loops force the women to waddle when they walk
and sit straight legged.

Amit R. Paley wrote in the Washington Post, Nae Naheng, 52, the matriarch of the family said
the Padaung believe that women used to be angels in the past world, and that male hunters used
rattan rings to catch them and bring them to Earth. Women are never supposed to remove the
rings. Naheng said she even sleeps in them and only briefly takes off the rings in the shower.
"Once I took them off when I was young, and I felt sick and very sad," she said. "If you do not
wear the rings, your soul will get ill and you can die." [Source: Amit R. Paley, Washington Post,
August 23, 2009]

She is also adorned with jewelry and ornaments of which the most outstanding and unusual are
the thick rings of bronze around her neck, worn right up to beneath her chin. The rings may
appear cumbersome, but the Padaungs believe that beauty lies in a long neck, which is regarded
as graceful as a swan's. The tradition of wearing bronze rings round the neck is slowly being
discarded but there are still a few who continue to follow this age-old custom.

At about the age of 6, girls are allowed to choose whether or not to put on the rings. Wearers say
that they are not uncomfortable, although their weight forces the shoulders down, making the
neck look longer. According to the Sydney Morning Herald: Young girls typically start wearing
about 3 1/2 pounds of brass coil around their necks and keep adding weight until they have more
than 11 pounds. They also wear coils on their legs. The women said the rings were painful when
they were young but don't hurt now at all, and they said there are no health problems associated
with wearing them. None of the Padaung I spoke to knew of any story or reason for wearing the
rings. It was just a tradition, they said.

"Why do we wear the rings?" said Mamombee, 52, whose neck seemed particularly elongated.
"We do it to put on a show for the foreigners and tourists!" I couldn't tell if she was joking. But
Mamombee said she doesn't like to remove them except once every three years to clean herself.
"I feel bad when I take out the rings," she said. "I look and feel ugly." [Sources:
peoplesoftheworld.org; Sydney Morning Herald]

Padaung Long Neck Women Customs

No one is really sure how the custom evolved. The Kayan have no written language. Even elders
don't know. There are different theories as to how the custom originated. One suggests men put
the rings on their women to deter slave traders. Another says the rings protected children from
being killed by tigers, which tend to attack at the neck. Other say the custom began as a tribute to
a dragon-mother progenitor.According to some people, Padaung women began wearing the coils
to protect their necks against tiger attacks and continued wearing them after tigers were no
longer a threat because Padaung men found the coils made the women more sexually desirable.
Some say the custom have been dreamed up and perpetuated by tour guides. Most agree it is a
form of adornment and may have been a way of saving and showing off family wealth. A
Paduang woman told National Geographic, "Wearing brass ring around your neck makes you
beautiful."

In the old days it was said the women never took the coils off and that if they did the woman's
neck would topple over and she would die from suffocation, a punishment sometimes meted out
if the woman committed adultery. This seems to have be a myth. These days you often women
not wearing their coils and looks as if their neck is no danger of suddenly collapsing. The belief
that only girls born under a full moon on Wednesday can wear them also seems to be a myth.

Traditionally, at the age of five the first coils are placed around a young girl's neck by a medicine
man who chose the date for this ritual by examining chicken bones. The first set of coils have a
break at about the seventh rung above the clavicle to permit head mobility. As the girl grows
taller, larger sets of coils replace the outgrown ones." A little pillow on top of the loops cushions
the chin. One 12-year-old girl told the New York Times she started wearing the coils when she
was six and had 16 around her neck that cost $160,

The custom is dying out in traditional Pandaung villages in Myanmar, where people are so poor
they prefer spend their hard earned money on rice rather than brass, but it is gaining new convert
along the Thai border.

Padaung Long Neck Women and Tourism in Thailand

Several hundred Padaung live along the Thai-Myanmar border. Some fled to Burma to escape
war. Most have come to Thailand to make money displaying themselves to gawking tourists. .In
Nao Soi and Mae Hong Son Thailand, visitors pay $10 to be driven to a village where they can
take photographs of long necked woman. In Huay Puu Kaeng the women are paid by operators ti
live in a village on the Pai River that can only be reached by boat. Many foreigners don't like
practice and describe the villages as human zoos, but they visit them anyway.

Some places have become dependent on the women to bring tourist. The chairman of the Mae
Hong Son chamber of commerce told the New York Times, Long-necked Paduang are the star
attraction to draw tourist to our province. All tourism-related businesses such as hotels,
restaurants, and transportation services would be badly hit if they went away.

The practice has become so lucrative that Padaung women can support large families with their
earnings. Many are collaring their daughters not out of respect for traditions but to make money
in the future. Buying the coils is regarded as an investment. Parents of girls are often very happy
and men like to marry long-necked women because of the money they will bring in.

Richard Lloyd Parry wrote in The Times: As many as ten thousand tourists visit Nai Soi every
year to see about 50 long-neck women and girls who pose for photographs and sell postcards,
bracelets and souvenirs. They pay 250 baht (about 4) each; Mr Surachai admits to taking up to
150,000 baht a month (2,400) from the entrance fee. Out of this the women and their families
are supplied rice, chilli and cooking oil, and a monthly stipend of 1,500 baht (24) per set of
neck rings. [Source: Richard Lloyd Parry, The Times, April 8, 2008 >>]
Sometimes the coils are placed on girls as young as two. One 8-year-old who refused to wear the
coils told AP, I prefer to be normal. No one can force me to wear the coils, but my friends think
they are pretty with the rings around their necks and they also get paid." In 2007, Lloyd wrote,
two Kayan moved to a rival tourist attraction near Chiang Mai, where they were paid more than
twice as well. When the news came out local business was outraged, the police were summoned
and the Long Neck fugitives were brought back under arrest.

Life of the Padaung Long Neck Women and Tourism

The Padaung women live in special villages in reasonably nice huts. They are paid $20 to $60 a
month from the tour company that brings tourists to see them, plus the money they get from tips
and selling T-shirts, postcards and souvenirs. Otherwise they live relatively normal lives. In their
free time some like to ride around on motorbikes and hunt dragonflies with poles and eat them.

One Padaung woman told AP, It is not comfortable wearing these coils even while sleeping. But
with them we can live in Thailand because they want us to stay this way...Our lives are better
here. We prefer to live here rather than being sent back to Myanmar...We want food, clothes and
other necessities. This is the only way we can earn money."

In many cases the women simply go about their daily chores or play volleyball while tourist stare
at them and ten ask them for tip or sell souvenirs or other items. Asked how it feels to be stared
at one told the New York Times, At first I felt frightened. I had never seen a Westerner before."
Then she said she got used it. Im glad when the tourist come because then we can make
money."

Everyday the women wash their coils with steel wool, and a mixture of lime, straw and tamarind
bark. Many speak numerous language and capable of chatting with tourist in English, French,
German, Japanese, Thai and even Hebrew.

Amit R. Paley wrote in the Washington Post, a village chief named Asung said they must wear
the dress because of tradition, but he also spoke excitedly about its appeal to tourists and noted
that half of the village's income of $30,000 a year comes from tourism. That night an Australian
family was paying $15 to sleep in his hut. "He is very worried that visitors will stop coming," my
guide, who served as my interpreter, told me as we left and headed to our own hut. As we walked
across the village, Asung began broadcasting over loudspeakers: "This is a reminder that all
women should wear traditional dress. Some foreigners just came to complain that some women
were not wearing their costumes." (We quickly returned to explain to the tribal chief that I was
asking questions, not complaining, but, unsurprisingly, he did not issue a correction over the
village intercom.) [Source: Amit R. Paley, Washington Post, August 23, 2009 +++]

Paduang Long Necked Women Trek

Describing a trek that climaxed with a trip to a Padaung village Amit R. Paley wrote in the
Washington Post, In the morning I scrambled up on an elephant for an hour-long ride that left
me sore all over (pachyderms, in case you were wondering, are not ergonomically designed) and
a hour-long trip down the Ping River on a bamboo raft precariously held together by strips of
rubber tire (I thought all was lost when the raft guide fell into the water after we bumped over
some nasty rapids, but he recovered and got us to shore). [Source: Amit R. Paley, Washington
Post, August 23, 2009 +++]

Eventually we arrived at our main destination, the village of the long-necked women. It was off
a dirt road, and a man at a booth in the front charged us 300 Thai baht (about $9) a person to
enter. It didn't look like a village at all. We were ushered into a 50-square-yard collection of
shacks where two dozen Padaung women sat and sewed or tried to sell their wares. There were
no men in sight and only a handful of tourists during my two-hour visit. The women were as
breathtaking as I imagined. Their heads seem to float ethereally over their bodies. In person they
looked less like giraffes than swans, regal and elegant." +++

Padaung Long Neck Women and Tourism in Myanmar

Loikow (five hours from Kalaw) is a medium-size town located on a lake in the Kayah State in
Myanmar Most visitors come here to see the long-necked women of the Paduang tribe, a branch
of the Karen tribe with only 7,000 members, most of whom live in villages within a 100 mile
radius of Loikow.

Most tourist's see the long-necked women in Sompron village (about three miles south of the
center of town), where ten long-necked women and girls live in small huts set up for them by a
travel agency. They woman come out when visitors call on them. They don't speak any English
so come prepared with some game or activity to keep them amused.

The visit to Sompron is a little strange and awkward. After allowing you take some pictures, the
women speak up and say the only English words they know, "Five dollars please." Some people
have compared the experience to a zoo trip. About three miles north of town three long-neck
women live in a small village; and about ten miles down the road there is another village near
Cabusera with four long-neck women and an Italian who speaks English and doesn't mind
answering questions.

Is Long-Necked Women Tourism Really That Bad?

National Geographic reported: Some women are rejecting the rings because the tradition has
trapped them in what critics call human zoos mock villages where tourists buy tickets for a
glimpse of these exotic women. Girls in these places do not attend school. If they move to a
refugee camp, they get an education, but opportunities to earn money or leave the country are
limited. Local businesses profit from the tourist traffic, and some Padaung women welcome the
modest income. Is this economic empowerment, then, or exploitation? It depends whether these
women are coerced," says National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis. For
Thailand's Padaung women, the choice is very narrow. [Source: National Geographic, 2008]

Amit R. Paley wrote in the Washington Post, Some trekking companies and human rights
groups consider the Padaung villages, which stretch across northern Thailand, to be "human
zoos" that exploit the women. There have even been reports that some of the Padaung are
prisoners held captive in the villages by businessmen. "Disgraceful stuff!" Annette Kunigagon,
the owner of Eagle House Eco-sensitive Tours, wrote in an e-mail. "We have been running
culturally and environmentally friendly treks for 22 years and have never run treks to visit this
tribal group as we would consider this exploitation as they have no rights. It is an easy trip to
'make' money out of, but this is not our interest!...PLEASE DO NOT SUPPORT THIS
VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS!"[Source: Amit R. Paley, Washington Post, August 23,
2009 +++]

Describing the village, where the women live, Paley wrote: There were no guards around, and it
did not look to me as if anyone would physically stop the women from leaving. When I asked
how they had arrived at this village, they said a man named U Dee, whom they referred to as "the
middleman," first began bringing Padaung to the spot about three years ago. There are now about
50 families there, including some from a tribe known as "the long ears" because they stretch their
lower earlobes by wearing enormous rings. Some families said they were paid about $45 a
month, while others were given a sack of rice. One orphan girl said she was not paid at all. All
the women and girls tried to raise extra money by selling trinkets or charging money to be
photographed. +++

The women are not allowed to leave the one-acre village. Groceries and other supplies are
brought in by motorcycle every day. "We have to stay with the middleman," Mamombee said. "If
I leave, he might call immigration." Does she want to escape? "I have no choice. If we leave, we
will be arrested," she said. Their only option is to stay or pay U Dee money to be returned to
Burma. But after pausing, she added: "I would much rather be here than in Burma." None of the
Padaung I spoke with wished to return to Burma, but several expressed a desire for more
freedom of movement. +++

"I want to go out and see things, see the market, see the people," said Maya, 11, who escaped
from Burma three years ago. "But I cannot." Helen "Lee" Jayu, a Lisu shopkeeper from the same
tribe as U Dee, said that all the Padaung are in Thailand under U Dee's patronage and that there
are no problems as long as no one leaves the area. So is it unethical to visit the long-necked
women? It is clearly true that money spent to visit them supports an artificial village from which
they essentially cannot leave. On the other hand, many of them appeared to prefer living in
virtual confinement as long as they are paid and safe. According to what they told me, their
situation beats the alternative of living in a repressive country plagued by abject poverty and
hunger. +++

Long Necked Women Speak Up About Their Situation

Amit R. Paley wrote in the Washington Post, Did the Padaung women want to wear those
enormous coils? "We're not allowed to take it off because of our tradition," said Malao, a 33-
year-old who, like most Padaung women, has only one name. She takes off the rings once a year
to clean the brass and her neck, but that's it. "If I take it off for a long time, it is uncomfortable.
My head aches, and I feel like my neck can't support my head."[Source: Amit R. Paley,
Washington Post, August 23, 2009 +++]

Joy Thaijun, 28, was wearing shorts and a T-shirt when I saw her. This annoyed my guide, who
said that if the villagers stop wearing traditional costumes, tourists will stop coming to visit
them. Embarrassed, Thaijun put on her costume and immediately tried to sell me some trinkets
and handicrafts. After politely refusing, I asked her why she did not wear the costume. +++

"I am part of a new generation, and I do not like it. It is hot and uncomfortable," she said. But she
noted that she might have to because the chief is considering forcing everyone to wear the
costume. "If the chief orders us, we will do it." The chief of the village, a 52-year-old named
Nanta Asung, told me that Thaijun was the only woman in the village who did not wear
traditional dress and that her choice was unacceptable. "If you are Palaung, you have to wear the
costume of the Palaung," he said while chopping pork for dinner. "This is a must. A must!" +++

After a dinner of chicken curry, raw pork and a jungle delicacy identified as minced mole, I
asked our hostess if she felt forced to wear the costume because of visiting foreigners. "I don't
care about tourists," Naheng said. "This is our culture. Even if no tourists came, I would still
wear it." +++

Paduang Woman Who Cast off Her Brass Coils

Rebellion is brewing in the so-called human zoos where the long-necked women live as virtual
prisoners. Nick Meo wrote in The Times: It began when Zember, 21, decided to cast off the
brass rings. Contrary to what guides tell tourists, her head did not collapse on atrophied muscles;
but mutiny by the most photographed woman in Nasoi Kayan Tayar village has provoked
spectacular results. Bitter arguments exploded between young and old generations, the Thai
businessmen who run the camps were furious and worried, and a new role model was born for a
generation of disgruntled women. [Source: Nick Meo, The Times (London), November 6, 2006
==]

When they arrived a decade ago as refugees from Burmese army offensives ravaging their
homeland, the Kayan people meekly accepted their role of being photographed by tourists. Their
daughters, however, have grown up to question the humiliation of their tribe. Billboards showing
the women's necks are on roadsides all over the north. They advertise exotic sightseeing for Thai
and foreign tourists alike in hill-country villagesin reality refugee camps that the women are
forbidden from leavingalong the Burma border. ==

Zember, whose hand darts constantly to her bare neck, admits that taking off the rings was a
difficult decision. Business has fallen off at her souvenir stall and her family no longer has the
payments that women receive for wearing the coils, a fraction of the profits made from selling
entry tickets to tourists. She said: I want to keep my people's traditions but we are suffering
because of these rings. We are denied education and the authorities will not let us go abroad,
although some of us have been invited to leave for Finland and New Zealand." Without work
papers or citizenship, the Kayan have little say over what happens to them. They also face a plan
to move their villages to a remote location on the border with Burma, where they believe they
will be at risk from bandits. ==

Paduang Denied the Chance for a New Life in New Zealand

Richard Lloyd Parry wrote in The Times: Mu Lon was born into war, grew up in poverty and
deprivation, and so the offer, when it came, was like the chance for a second life. She is
Burmese, one of hundreds of thousands of people to have fled the 58-year-long civil war for
exile in neighbouring Thailand. From the age of 5 she had lived as a stateless refugee, without
hope or prospects. Then came an undreamt of opportunity a fresh start in New Zealand, with
education, housing, full citizenship and, above all, peace. The medical certificates were issued,
the formal invitation was delivered, and in 2006 Mu Lon and her sister were all ready to travel to
their new home. But two years later... they remain stuck. The reason for their plight is not
religion, politics or the color of their skins but something altogether more unexpected: their
necks. [Source: Richard Lloyd Parry, The Times, April 8, 2008 ::]

Mu Lon is a member of the Kayan ethnic group whose women are known as the "Long Necks"
or, more crudely, "Giraffe Women". For two years Mu Lon and her family, the United Nations
High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and foreign governments have put pressure on the
Thai authorities to allow 20 Kayan to take up the opportunity of resettlement in New Zealand
and Finland. Several young Kayan women, including Mu Lon, have even taken off their rings in
protest, abandoning centuries of tradition. The UNHCR has hinted at a tourist boycott, but all in
vain. Unlike the members of other, less photogenic ethnic groups, the government of Mae Hong
Son province, in which they live, has refused to give the Kayan exit visas.":

Vague bureaucratic excuses are given, but the true reason is an open secret. "The local [Thai]
villagers can sell to the [Burmese] refugees, and they can sell to the tourists who come here as
well," says Surachai Pidwai, the Thai village head who collects tens of thousands of pounds a
year from tourists who visit the Nai Soi tourist "village" where Mu Lon and her fellow Kayan
live. "If the Kayan leave it would be unfair to all those people who benefit from the camps. It
would be awful." ::

As refugees, the Kayan have no land, no rights to social security and no freedom of movement
to find better work or education. And at Nai Soi the monthly fee has not been paid for five
months. "We have nothing for ourselves here," says Mu Lon, 22, who receives no money at all
now that she has cast off her rings. "Sometimes the tourists who come here say that it is a human
zoo, and it hurts my heart. I want to go to New Zealand to have an ordinary life and freedom. But
the Thai people say that if we go no more tourists will come."Tired of waiting for Mu Lon and
her family the New Zealand Government has given their places to others. The UNHCR insists
that all refugees should be treated equally, but declines to reproach the Government directly." ::

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Encyclopedia of World Cultures: East and Southeast Asia, edited by Paul
Hockings (C.K. Hall & Company); New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times,
Times of London, The Guardian, National Geographic, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek,
Reuters, AP, AFP, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Global Viewpoint
(Christian Science Monitor), Foreign Policy, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN, NBC News, Fox News and
various books and other publications.

2008 Jeffrey Hays

Last updated May 2014

PADAUNG LONG NECK WOMEN

http://factsanddetails.com/asian/cat66/sub417/entry-2761.html#chapter-1

Ring Wearing
The Kayan tradition of wearing a brass coil around their neck has attracted tourists,
anthropologists and journalist alike.

Because of this tradition the Shan people called this long-neck tribe Yan Pa Doung meaning
Karen brass wound people, this name was adopted by the Burmans and Thais who refer to the
people as Padoung.

This particular form of body modification has likely been a Kayan tradition for over a thousand
years.

Basic facts
The 'rings' are in fact a long brass wound spiral. The spiral is wound around the neck manually
by womenfolk. Brass is a tough metal and the process that can take several hours depending on
length.

A full set of neck rings weighs about 10kilos. The full set of neck rings is made from three
separate coils, the main neck coil and a wider coil near the shoulders with a small coil wrapped
around it at 90 degrees. Few women wear this full set.
Brass coils are also worn around the legs. The rings rubbing against the skin can cause
discomfort and abrasions over a period of time. Typically pieces of cloth are used to help protect
the skin.

There are many false stories about the impact the rings have on movement. Claims that wearing
the rings mean you cannot look up or that you have to drink through a straw and absolutely false.
Though heavy the impact the rings have on movement is minimal and many girls who wear the
rings regularly play volleyball.

Despite the appearance of a longer neck, the neck is not stretched by the

rings. Rather, they push down on the muscles around the collarbone giving the impression of a
longer neck.

Click on the image to the left to see an animated X-ray of the neck lengthening.

Background and Tradition of the Neck Coil

There are many tales told concerning the tradition of the ring wearing. A popular one amongst
guides to the village is that the rings are worn to protect against tiger bites, but this is almost
certainly false. It is also nothing to do with the day they are born.

Other more credible stories tend to involve one or more of the following themes:

The wearing of a large amount of jewellery including the rings was a method
to stop valuables being stolen by melting them down and wearing them.

The rings identified the women so that they would not be taken by other
tribes.

The rings are a status symbol for women as, according to Kayan legend, they
are the descendant of the Mother Dragon "She".

They are worn for beauty, as the various tribes vied for attention in a kind of
'beauty contest'.
 Read the Kayan Dragon Ancestor Legend here.

It is impossible to know what the true story is since there is no written history of the Kayan
culture, however the tradition is likely to stretch back to at least the 11th century.

There are four sub-groups of Kayan distinguished by different traditional dress. In addition to the
long-neck Kayan there are also Kayan who wear a long coil brass around their arms or just
around their legs.

The Kayaw also wear a brass coil around their legs. The Ndebele tribe of South Africa has a very
similar tradition of ring wearing.

Ring Wearing in Huay Pu Keng

In Huay Pu Keng all women individually chose whether to wear the rings or not. Girls from the
age of five can wear the rings; some decide to put the rings on later and some who wear the rings
later remove them. The primary reasons for wearing them now are for beauty and to preserve
their culture while they are in exile as well as to help generate income.

http://www.huaypukeng.com/info_rings.htm

THE PADAUNG
One of the treasures of any country is its people. In this respect Myanmar, particularly the
east with its rich and diverse ethnic minorities, is well endowed. One of the most striking of
these groups is the Padaung. Natives of Kayah State the Padaung are seldom seen in the
lowlands and, if they appear at all, tend to congregate around the provincial town of
Loikaw near the border with Thailand.

Although the Padaung, a Mongolian tribe who have been assimilated into the Karen group,
only number about 7,000 they have attracted a great deal of interest because of their
practice of neck-stretching. The custom is more than just a rare and strange expression of
feminine beauty, the number and value of the rings confers status and respect on the
wearer's family.
In the past Padaung girls were fitted with the rings at the age of five or six. The day chosen
for this ritual was prescribed by the horoscopic findings of the village shamans. The neck
was carefully smeared with a salve and massage for several hours, after which a priest
would fit small cushions under the first ring-usually made of bronze - to prevent soreness.
The cushions were removed later on. The process would continue with successive ring being
added every two years. A Padaung women of marriageable age will probably have had her
neck extended by aboui 25 cms.

These severe decorations express the Padaung women's own concept of beauty and social
ranking but there are other theories concerning the origins ofthese rings. It has been
claimed that rings were first placed around the women's necks in order to make them
undesirable to slave traders. A Padaung legend explains that the rings were protection
against tiger bites, a constant hazard in their homeland in the north of China.
Unlike normal accessories, these rings are for life and may only be removed with the direst
of results. Adultery among Padaung women has always been punished by the removal of
the rings, a fate almost literally, worse than death. This is an unusually cruel punishment as
the cervical vertebrae has become deformed after years of wearing the rings, and the neck
muscles have atrophied. Unless she wishes to risk suffocation the unfortunate wife must
pay for the infidelity by spending the rest of her life lying down or try to find some other
artificial support for her neck.
Bronze and silver bracelets also cover the womens legs and arms, a custom likely to remain.
The neck rings however, may very well become extinct within a generation or two as
younger Padaung women are beginning to refuse to fit the rings around their children's
necks.
The Padaung like to live in river valleys wherever they can. Unlike other tribes these 'Long-
Knecked Karen' rarely leave their villages. If you want to see them, you have to go to them.
The age of a village can often be reckoned from the size of its jackfruit trees. In the village I
visited they were tall and fulsome indicating a certain passage of time. Houses stood in
small, neat squares made of woven and split bamboo with palm leaf roofs. Each home had
a spacious, open terrace where the Padaung sat in the shade in front to their looms,
spinning and weaving cotton textiles, blankets and tunics. Some of the bamboo walls were
stained blue where cloth had been hung to dry. The Padaung men were conspicuous by
their absence, out in the fields tending crops.
At first glance, the Padaung appear to belong to a different continent than Asia, their green
and purple headresses, white caftans and shining ornaments suggesting some African tribe
or even the Plain Indians of old. Whatever you think of their customs, 'striking' is certainly
the word to describe the Padaung of eastern Myanmar. It remains to be seen though,
whether the Padaung will eventually come are small and containable but this may change.
At the moment they appear to welcome the odd visitor, smiling shyly at the cameras,
patiently answering the questions that are put to them through the tour guides. How they
will keep this dignity and composure in the face of encroaching tourism is a problem
shared by all the minority tribes of this region.
Stephen Mansfield
Last updated on 10/18/2012 21:45:50
http://www.myanmargeneva.org/tourism/THE%20PADAUNG_files/THE%20PADAUNG.htm

Posted by ThaiMed on May 2, 2009 in Blog, News, Tour, Travel | 12 comments

Thailand's Human Zoo Releasing The Rings Of The Long Neck Tribe...

The Karen tribes of the Thai-Burmese/Myanmar border, who are know for wearing brass coils
that stretch the neck, are removing their rings in hope to someday be integrated in to society.

The Karen are often refered to as the long-neck or giraffe tribes. However it is only women
in a sub-group of Karen, known as the Padaung, who wear the brass rings. Several Padaung
villages that serve as a tourist attraction for thousands of visitors from around the globe, have
been constructed in the Mae Hong Song province of Northern Thailand.

For the price of 250 baht (around 7 dollars), tourists can visit one of these long neck tribes. The
idea of witnessing first hand what a real tribal village is like is a great lure for many travelers, but
being able to see the famous long neck tribes is what really brings in the crowds. Although the
opportunity to visit the Padaung tribes may seem like a perfect trip during a stay in Thailand,
many tourists have labeled the villages human zoos.

ZEMBER, who at aged 12 had become a poster child for long-neck tourism, has now taken her
rings off in protest, after provincial authorities in Mae Hong Son, refused to let her emigrate to
New Zealand.
When I was young, I wanted to wear the rings and keep my own tradition. In one way, I feel sad
(that Ive taken them off) but now I go to the city, no one cares, no one stares
The people who control us say if the people see us in the town, they wont pay to see us (in the
village).

After being interviewed in November 2005, Zember received the news on 2006 that she would
be able to join her friends in New Zealand. But as Zembers case dragged on, authorities ruled in
2007 that Section 19, Zembers home area, was no longer part of the resettlement plan. Even
though Zember had been due to leave in 2006, the new ruling meant she had missed her chance.
It was then that Zember decided to remove her rings.

[So] I took my rings off. I love my culture, but it is our tradition which has made me a
prisoner.

The Padaung custom prescribes that girls begin to wear augmented coils that weight as mush as
11 pounds, before puberty. The number of coils on the rings are then increase gradually with age.

There are several accounts of why the Padaung practice this custom. Their own mythology tells
how the coils will protect them from the bite of a tiger. Others speculate that it is done to to make
the women unattractive so they are less likely to be captured by slave traders. However the most
common explanation, is the opposite of this that an extra-long neck is considered a sign of
great beauty and wealth and that it will attract a better husband.

Many people believe that the coils force the chin upward while pressing down the collar bones
and ribs, elongating the neck. However chiropractor or orthopedic surgeon will tell you that this
would lead to paralysis or even death. In fact, the stretching of the neck is actually an illusion.
The rings do not cause the vertebrae to elongate, instead the weight of the rings pushes down the
collar bone, as well as the upper ribs, to such an angle that the collar bone appears to be a part of
the neck.

Traditionally, it was only the Padaung girls born on a Wednesday of a full moon who were
destined to wear the coils, but now other youngsters are enlisted to meet the tourist demand.

Initial discomfort is reported after the coils are set, however they seem to pose no problem in
later life. Experts assumed that removing the coils would lead to suffocation and death, because
the neck muscles would not be strong enough to support the head. But as Zember has proved, the
rings can be removed without serious consequences.

http://www.thaimedicalnews.com/medical-tourism-thailand/long-neck-karen-tribe-thailand-
burmese-border-remove-rings/