|
Karen Village Long Neck - |
|
|
หมู่บ้านกะเหรี่ยงคอยาว |
|
|
Address: |
|
|
|
|
|
Known as: |
|
Ban Mai Nai Soi |
|
|
|
Description: |
|
The Long neck village Ban Huay Sua Tao is a refugee camp for the
Karenni (Red Karen) people.
The Karenni people are known for two subgroups, the
Padaung and the Kayan people.
The Karenni are involved in a struggle (war) back in
Myanmar (Burma) for independence.
The people in the camp had fled the violence as well as
persecution back in Myanmar.
There are three Kayan Long
Neck villages in Mae Hong Son province in Thailand. The largest
is Huay Pu Keng, on the Pai river, close to the Thai Myanmar
border. Long Neck village Ban Huai Seau Tao is a commercial
village opened in 1995. Many of the residents of Ban Nai Soi
Kayan Longneck village moved into the Karenni refugee camp in
September 2008, but 20 families and 104 residents remain there,
according to the sign at the entrance as of February 2017.
The Kayan are a sub-group of Red Karen (Karenni people),
Tibeto-Burman ethnic minority of Myanmar (Burma). The Kayan
consists of the following groups: Kayan Lahwi (also called
Padaung), Kayan Ka Khaung (Gekho), Kayan Lahta, Kayan Ka Ngan.
Kayan Gebar, Kayan Kakhi and, sometimes, Bwe people (Kayaw).
Padaung (Yan Pa Doung) is a Shan term for the Kayan Lahwi
(the group in which women wear the brass neck coils). The Kayan
residents in Mae Hong Son Province in Northern Thailand refer to
themselves as Kayan and object to being called Padaung. In The
Hardy Padaungs (1967) Khin Maung Nyunt, one of the first authors
to use the term “Kayan”, says that the Padaung prefer to be
called Kayan. On the other hand, Pascal Khoo Thwe calls his
people Padaung in his 2002 memoir, From the Land of Green
Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey.
The Thai government has at
best tolerated them and at worst sent them back over the border.
But for refugees, they are not allowed to seek regular work in
Thailand. The villages are often derided as human zoos, and
there are certainly elements of this, but the ethics of whether
or not to visit these people is up to you. On the one hand,
tourism is one of the few ways that these people can earn a
living. Most of the women that you see, They are proud of their
heritage and feel no embarrassment about showing it off for the
tourists.
If you talk with them. You will know, they are
happy with their current situation, but the stateless position
they share with all Burmese refugees is nothing to be envied,
and these formerly independent farmers are now reliant on aid
and tourists to survive.
Long Neck village Ban Huay Sua
Tao is close from Mae Hong Son city about 30 minutes from town.
The asphalt road is the only grey line in this colorful
landscape. On the way it has streams that must be traversed to
reach the village. However with only a few inches of water
flowing over most of the concrete crossings year-round.
Long Neck Village Ban Huay Sua Tao itself consists of a short
pedestrian street lined with handicraft stalls, and bamboo and
wooden huts behind on a hill slope. You aren’t encouraged to
visit the private houses and when we went, vendors on the main
street were friendly and chatty, there was certainly no hard
sell. Kayan women have traditional looms in their shops so you
can see them weaving the sarongs and scarves that they offer for
sale.
There is a bulletin board around the entrance and
it shows messages in English from the villagers to visitors as
follows. This village is not a theme park but a place where
people spend their daily lives.
We welcome you as a guest
in our village, but as that you respect that it is a village
where everybody carries on their daily life. It is not a
specially built theme park and as such you should not leave
littler or walk into peoples’ houses without invitation.
The
people of Huay Sua Tao are used to visitors and are happy to
pose for photos, but please ask first. It would be a good
gesture to purchase from their shop in return.
The girls who
wear the rings, in particular, are often happy to speak to a few
visitors to the best of their ability. Please use discretion
when it comes to asking personal questions.
Entrance fees
are 250 baht per person, 200 baht actually goes to the village,
with 50 baht going to the local council for road maintenance and
public utilities. Villagers, with only refugee status, have
limited land of their own on which to grow crops, so families
are largely supported through tickets and sales of handicrafts
to visitors. |
|
|
Province |
|
Mae Hong Son |
Direction: |
|
|
|
|
District |
|
N/A |
|
|
|
City |
|
N/A |
Comments: |
|
Official Web: |
|
|
|
|
Genre |
|
Local life |
|
|
Related links: |
|
|
|
|
Best exposure |
|
AM/PM |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rating |
|
  |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Opening time |
|
N/A |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Entry fee |
|
Entrance fee |
|
|
GPS : |
|
18.61631 N |
97.899170 E |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
EXPLORE
THAILAND THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY 
