Thousands of Kayan people from Burma, sometimes called "long-neck Karen," have in recent decades, like hundreds of thousands of other Burmese, fled as refugees from the civil war in their country to Thailand.
The Kayans sought to escape human rights abuses, such as forced labour and rape, which followed attacks by the Burmese Army in Karenni State after the 1988 uprising in Burma and after the breakdown of a 1995 ceasefire initiated by the Karenni National Progressive Party.
In Thailand, however, powerful local authorities and businessmen have taken Kayans from the refugee camps on the border and placed their community of about 600 people in three separate villages in Mae Hong Son province, in northern Thailand.
Each day, Kayan women sit on the balconies of small bamboo huts for the benefit of tourists, displaying necks bedecked with multiple brass rings. Foreign visitors pay a 250 baht (about U.S. $7) entrance fee so they can stare at and photograph the "long-neck" women.
Some of the Kayan women have now lived in the same place for almost 20 years, earning a living from the tourism industry. Yet, this is at least partly a result of local authorities commonly refusing them permission to travel or apply for resettlement in third countries.
A new generation
Today, the first generation of Kayan women who can read and write are struggling to escape from this "human zoo." Already, some have stripped off their rings, which are a traditional symbol of their culture.
Musar, who is 18 years old, told me: "I am sad that I have had to take off my rings." The girl, sitting under her hut in Hway Pu Keng, one of the three villages aforementioned, explained why: "I wanted to continue my education. If I were allowed to study with these rings, I would put them on immediately."
With her rings on, Musar was not allowed to go to where she could receive a high school education. She proceeded to strip off her rings in 2005 and left her village to pursue an education.
Other young women told similar stories.
"I can't go out from the village. There is neither freedom nor basic rights living in the village," said 16-year-old Mu Thaung, speaking of life wearing the rings. Until recently, she had studied at a Karenni high school. "The main reason to take off my rings was to be able to further my education freely."
"If we continue to wear these rings, we will not have any choices about what we want to be in the future. Now I am studying at [a Karenni] leadership school. If I tried to study outside the village wearing these rings, local authorities would never allow it," said 22 year-old Mu Youg, who stripped off her rings just last year. "What I want to do is to continue my studies. After I have finished studying, I would like to share what I have learnt with my people. This is my ambition," she said.
Recently more than 10 long-neck girls have gone to high school outside their villages. But life for these students is not easy with their necks bared.
The girls always feel afraid of the local authorities and tour operators who control the villages. Some have been forced to put the rings back on by local Thai businessmen.
After wearing the rings for about 15 years, Mu Paw Paw (not her real name) stripped off her rings in order to be able to live a normal life. She said: "The rings are a prison."
But a Thai businesswoman, who controlled Hway Su Thao, where Paw Paw lived, tried to force Paw Paw to put the rings back on. When Paw Paw refused, the woman kicked her out of the village.
"I didn't want them to control me," said Paw Paw. Using her basic English, Paw Paw got a job in Mae Hong Son. She managed to stand on her own two feet without relying on the tourist business in her village. However, she said: "The best thing would be to maintain the traditions and to be free too."
Unstable Income
About 300 foreign tourists visit each village daily. Although this has been an important business in Mae Hong Son for almost 20 years, the condition of the community is still poor. The women who wear the rings only earn 1,500 baht a month to run souvenir stalls, while men receive a rice allowance of 260 baht a month.
Most men in the villages don't have jobs. They are not allowed to use the land for growing rice or vegetables and are not allowed to work outside the villages because no legal documents were provided for them. Traditionally, they cannot wear the rings. They can only make a little money by helping their wives with traditional weaving for products such as bags, shirts and toys to sell to visitors.
But not only is the amount paid to a long-neck woman per month small. "They don't pay us regularly," complained a long-neck woman from Hway Pu Keng who didn't want to give her name. "They said if foreigners come a lot we can get the money, but if there are few foreigners, we will only get rice"
With living conditions for the Kayan community only getting harder, some family members are starting to explore ways to flee from their villages to a better life outside Mae Hong Son.
A new plan for tourists
In September 2007, local authorities in Mae Hong Son started to set up a new village near Hway Pu Keng. They planned to combine the three separate villages into one and preserve Kayan culture for the tourist trade. About a hundred Kayans from Ban Nai Soi and Ban Hway Sua Htao joined the project, but many remained in their old villages.
The new village project has given Kayans the hope of a better life, the possibility of owning land and Thai hill tribe identity cards in the future, according to Kayans who moved to the new village. However, "the situation in the new village is very difficult because there is no one who can take care of us. Also, the UN doesn't take responsibility for us," a Kayan man in the new village commented. "We cannot return to our old villages. There will be no ration, or salary, if we return to our old villages. So we have to find a way ourselves."
On July 4, six Kayan women, with their four children, illegally left Hway Pu Keng. Local authorities and police in Mae Hong Son are on alert to search for these long-neck families and to discover how they escaped and whether or not they were persuaded by some businessmen to do so.
A Hway Pu Keng villager, who knew about this departure, told me: "Some people came and told us we could get 4,000 baht a month" outside Mae Hong Son.
Already, in October 2007, two families left Hway Pu Keng to go to Mae Tan, in Chiang Mai province. Among them was 22-year-old Mu Lee: "We were invited to stay in Mae Tan because there is no long-neck tribe there. In Mae Tan, there are also other hill tribes like the Mu Hso and the Palong. They set up their villages and sell things to the tourists."
However, after three weeks in Mae Tan, Mu Lee and the others had to return to Mae Hong Son because they were accused of illegally leaving.
Resettlement
Since resettlement opportunities have recently become more accessible for Burmese refugees in Thailand, a number of Kayans have been among those who have applied for and been accepted for resettlement in third countries such as New Zealand and Finland. But unlike other Burmese, and for no clear reason, they have not been granted exit visas by the Thai government.
