Long-Neck Women

The women wear long brass coils which are wound around their necks and may weigh more than 15 pounds. They also wear them around their legs. There are at least three theories concerning the origin of the coils: (1) the men wanted the women to look different so that men from other tribes would not pursue them; (2) it protected them from tigers which would often drag their victims by the neck; and (3) it makes the women look beautiful (through a translation provided by our guide).
Surprisingly, the coil causes the collarbones and rib cage to be depressed downward, which gives the appearance of the neck being pushed upward. The myth that removal of the coil causes death by strangulation due to the atrophy of the muscles holding the head upright is erroneous. The women often remove their brass coils to bathe and to adjust or exchange them for longer ones.

Long-Neck Hill Tribe Village

We travelled for one and a half hours north of Chiang Mai to view the hill tribes. stopping at four distinctly different villages. The last 30 minutes of the drive was over a dirt road that wound its way through a valley rimmed by steep peaks. The hill tribes or "chao khao" (mountain people) are of semi-nomadic origin, migrating to northern Thailand from China, Myanmar, Laos, and Tibet. Each tribe has its own language, customs, mode of dress, and spiritual beliefs. The "long-necks" are refugees from Myanmar (formerly Burma) and like the other hill tribes have no ownership of the land. The hill tribes have the lowest standards of living in Thailand, which can be partly attributed to their lack of Thai citizenship. During the past decade, free education has been offered to them by the Thai government. The irony is that this may threaten their cultural identity through their assimilation into society.

These pictures show the village of approximately 50 people. The second picture shows a common area for washing clothes and dishes.

Workday in a Long-neck Village

Everywhere we went, we noticed the women at work making beautiful scarves. The women were very serious and offered few smiles. This was in stark contrast to the other hill tribes that we visited: the Skaw (White) Karens, the Pa-O (Black) Karens, and the Akha. These groups smiled and teased us and, of course, hounded us to buy their products. (Will post pictures next week.) The long-necks did not push their products on us at all (which also included beautiful silver opium pipes), although they were on display next to them. As far as the men are concerned, we have no pictures because most of them were sleeping in the huts!