A Padaung girl in Northern Thailand

The Padaung is a group of the Karen people, a Sino-Tibetan, Tibeto-Burman ethnic minority of Myanmar (Burma). The name Padaung is a derogatory name (sounding like "toilet-post"). They prefer to be called Kayan. In the 1990's, due to conflict with the military regime in Burma, many Padaung tribespeople fled into neighbouring Thailand. There they live with an uncertain legal status in the border area, in villages set up to display them to tourists willing to pay to admire their particular body modification, which consists of coiling lengths of brass around the neck of the women. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x2856, 2074 KB) Summary This is an image I photographed at a refugee camp in Northern Thailand of a young Padaung hilltribe girl from Myanmar. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2048x2856, 2074 KB) Summary This is an image I photographed at a refugee camp in Northern Thailand of a young Padaung hilltribe girl from Myanmar. ... Total population: 7,400,000 Significant populations in: Myanmar: 7,000,000 Thailand:  400,000 Language: Karen Religion: Buddhism, Christianity, Animism Related ethnic groups: Padaung The Karen (Burmese: or Kayin), also known in Thailand as the Kariang (Thai: กะเหรี่ยง) or Yang , are an ethnic group in Myanmar (Burma) and Thailand. ... This article is about the concept of a minority. ... Body modification (or body alteration) is the permanent or semi-permanent deliberate altering of the human body for non-medical reasons, such as spiritual, various social (markings), BDSM edgeplay or aesthetic. ...

The coils are first applied when the girls are about five years old, and the coil is replaced with longer coils as the weight of the brass pushes down the collar bone and compresses the rib cage. This results in the striking appearance of a very long neck.

There are several mythical ideas, perhaps formed by visiting anthropologists. Some think the coils protect from tiger bites, while some think the coils made the women unattractive to neighbouring tribes, and so protected them against slave trade, another, more likely, reason is that it reflects the neck of a dragon.

The origin of the tradition is not known. Padaung women, when asked, usually know of these myths, but their own reason for wearing the coils, is that it is a tribal identity, one associated with beauty, and because their mothers wore the rings.

The rings, once on, are seldom removed, as it is a somewhat lengthy procedure. Contrary to myth, the women do not suffocate when the rings are removed. It was believed that women cheating on their husbands could have the rings removed as punishment, and thus had to lie down the rest of her life, to avoid the long neck breaking, but this is nonsense. Many women removed the coils when they became unfashionable in Burma, as the military government decided this tradition was unwanted, as Burma / Myanmar struggled to appear a more modern and developed world. Also, many women have removed the rings for medical examinations. Most women, once their necks are elongated, prefer to wear the rings, as their necks and collar bones are often bruised and discolored from being hidden behind brass for so long, and of course also because the collar after ten years or more of continuous wear, feels like an integral part of the body.

The practice has seen a surge in recent years because the custom draws tourists who buy their handicrafts. The biggest Padaung village of Nai Soi receives an average of 1,200 tourists annually and collects an entry fee of 250B per person.

The above picture of a Padaung man must be considered the result of artistic freedom, as no males of the Padaung tribe have been seen wearing neck coils.

There are around 7,000 members of the Padaung tribe.

A tribe in South Africa has a similar practice. The Ndebele people (South Africa) start wearing neck rings when they are married, around 12 years of age. However instead of brass coils, the Ndebele people wear individual rings closed around their necks. The Ndebele people are three tribes or nations of people living in South Africa and Zimbabwe; there are three main groups of Ndebele: The Southern Transvaal Ndebele, who live around Bronkhorstspruit The Northern Transvaal Ndebele, who live in Limpopo Province (formerly Northern Transvaal or Northern Province) around the towns of...

Padaung man Download high resolution version (736x910, 82 KB)Padaung male, by Burman artist Yatanabon Maung Su Scanned from Soviet magazine Ogonyok (1955) by Mikkalai File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Padaung woman Download high resolution version (608x968, 76 KB)Padaung female, by Burman artist Yatanabon Maung Su Scanned from Soviet magazine Ogonyok (1955) by Mikkalai File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Sources and references

• The FarEast.info
• Yahoo groups neckrings