![\"Women](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/\u043f\u0430\u0434\u0430\u0443\u043d\u0433.jpg\")
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Almost every tourist who comes to the kingdom of Thailand, includes in the program of his itinerary a visit to the village of Karen, famous for its long-necked women.<\/p>\n
Content:<\/strong><\/p>\n These wonderful people live in the northern part of Thailand, in a mountainous area near the border with Myanmar (formerly Burma). They are members of the Padaung (\"copper ring\"), a branch of the Karen tribe.<\/p>\n Only in their girls, starting at the age of 5, they put brass or copper rings around their necks, gradually increasing their number. To be more exact, they put not rings, but a thick copper rod, which is spiraled around the neck.<\/p>\n In a mature woman, the number of coils can be more than two dozen. As a result, the neck becomes incredibly long.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n By the end of their lives, some of the tribeswomen's rings weigh several kilograms and are more than 20 centimeters high. Sometimes spiral rings are made deliberately high so that they fit tightly to the chin and shoulders. In this case, women cannot turn their heads, which makes them very uncomfortable. But such exotics are rarely practiced.<\/p>\n The tribe settled in the northern part of the kingdom of Thailand in the 1970s. Fleeing the turmoil and persecution that prevailed in Burma, the Karen people migrated to a neighboring state. The King of Thailand and the government were sympathetic to their situation and welcomed them into their state.<\/p>\n The Karens have refugee status here, so they can only stay in the province where they reside. When they leave Thailand, they permanently lose the opportunity to return. In the name of the tourist business, the Thai government has allowed the Karen to preserve their language and cultural traditions, allowing them to profit from the desire of travelers to see the exotic.<\/p>\n Originally, neck rings were only worn on girls born either under the full moon or on a Wednesday. But over time, every Padawng woman began to wear such an ornament. There are several versions that explain the origin of this tradition:<\/p>\n 1. The metal rings protected us from predators<\/strong><\/p>\n One legend says that once upon a time, long ago, tigers attacked the Padaungs and chewed the necks off most of the tribe. In the absence of men, the likelihood of wild animals attacking women and children increased.<\/p>\n To keep the lineage alive, the chief ordered a kind of protection made of metal rings to be put on women and girls. Of course, the rings did not literally protect against powerful fangs, but they could act as amulets.<\/p>\n 2. The rings ensured that the woman was unattractive to strangers<\/strong><\/p>\n Excessively long necks made girls very unattractive to the peoples of other tribes, so men invented to ring the necks of their lovers. The ugliness protected them from abduction, captivity, and subsequent slavery.<\/p>\n 3. Rings are a kind of jewelry<\/strong><\/p>\n The more of them and the longer the neck, the more beautiful the woman was considered. Such a girl could marry more successfully.<\/p>\n 4. tradition is a tribute to the ancestors of the Karen people<\/strong><\/p>\n According to an ancient legend, the Wind and the Dragon were in love with each other. When the Wind found out that his beloved was pregnant, he began to twirl around her frantically with immense joy.<\/p>\n The dragoness gave birth to a cocoon, from which came forth the first Karen, a representative of a people that is now one of the landmarks of Thailand. The dance of the happy Wind and became symbolized by the spiral-shaped hoops around the necks of the Padaung women.<\/p>\n 5. Punishment for an unfaithful wife<\/strong><\/p>\n Another belief is that a woman found guilty of adultery would have her husband remove her rings. Once they were removed, the unfaithful woman remained chained to her bed because the atrophied muscles in her neck could not hold her head up without the rings. This version fits more with the tribes inhabiting the African continent, where women also wear hoops around their necks. After all, African women wear heavy rings that stretch the cervical vertebrae, and there is a great risk of damaging the spine when they are removed.<\/p>\n In Thailand, however, women do not experience excruciating discomfort after removing their jewelry. Before going to bed or bathing, the beauties get rid of them, and in the morning they put them on to show tourists.<\/p>\n X-ray studies have proven that in Paduaung, the length of the neck does not increase when the rings are worn - there is a deformation of the upper chest, when the shoulders and clavicles are lowered, and the effect of a long neck is created.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n If you stop wearing the hoops, in a couple of years the body proportions will be restored. But anyway, the percentage of adultery and divorce in the long-necked tribe of northern Thailand is very small.<\/p>\n After moving to Thailand, the Karens realized that their exotic custom could be a good lure for many tourists. They organized village-reserves, where they show visitors the conditions of their life on a commercial basis, sell handicrafts, and demonstrate their main exhibits - women with long necks.<\/p>\n Women giraffes in Thailand have a privileged place in their village. They do not work in the fields, they do not do hard, grueling work like the others. Their main task is to engage in folk crafts. And a man whose wife's neck is adorned with a \"necklace\" has a higher status than that of his countrymen.<\/p>\n The Karens have an ambivalent attitude to their business. On the one hand, they do not like to feel like a pet in a human zoo and give the lion's share of income to travel agencies, but on the other hand, a fairly tolerable existence compared to their compatriots from troubled Myanmar reconciles them with reality.<\/p>\n The Karens are skilled artisans. Their hand-woven fabrics with bright, ethnic patterns have conquered not only Thailand and neighboring Asian countries. Almost every tourist who comes to visit the tribe considers it necessary to buy an exotic item.<\/p>\n When visiting the Long-necked Women's Reservation Village and other tribal settlements in Thailand, follow some simple rules of conduct:<\/p>\n When visiting the village tourists can witness the normal life of the tribe, as well as see the ritual ceremonies. In addition, there is an opportunity to try on and buy the legendary rings.\u00a0For many, a visit to the Karen tribe's village with the long-necks evokes a double feeling: pity and curiosity. The artificiality, the staged nature of what is happening, and the drawn-out look in the eyes of the \"living exhibits\" are conspicuous.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
![\"padaung](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/\u043f\u0430\u0434\u0430\u0443\u043d\u0433-\u0441\u043d\u0438\u043c\u0430\u044e\u0442-\u043a\u043e\u043b\u044c\u0446\u0430.jpg\")
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How Long-necks appeared in Thailand<\/h2>\n
![\"padaungs\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/\u043f\u0430\u0434\u0430\u0443\u043d\u0433\u0438.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHistory of Tradition<\/h2>\n
![\"padaung](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/\u043f\u0430\u0434\u0430\u0443\u043d\u0433-\u0434\u0435\u0432\u043e\u0447\u043a\u0430.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Padaung_Girl\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Padaung_Girl_Portrait.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"padaung](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/\u043f\u0430\u0434\u0430\u0443\u043d\u0433-\u0434\u043b\u0438\u043d\u043d\u043e\u0448\u0435\u0438.jpg\")
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The Karens today<\/h2>\n
![\"padaung](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/\u043f\u0430\u0434\u0430\u0443\u043d\u0433-\u0431\u0438\u0437\u043d\u0435\u0441.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"padaung](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/\u043f\u0430\u0434\u0430\u0443\u043d\u0433-\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0449\u0438\u043d\u044b.jpg\")
<\/p>\nHow to behave in a long-necked settlement<\/h2>\n
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