Karen Longneck Village, Marwin Maewang Chiang Mai : Vlog. LXIII

Vlog. LXIII Karen Longneck Village, Marwin Maewang Chiang Mai,

After our first day of our opening at Yoga Sammadhi; we decide as class we were going to walk to get here to the village and play a little visit,

Luckily, I don’t have to walk and we all were scooped up by a truck - some of the engery we save here from taking the extra steps ( I know i sound super lazy right now, but we also have class to go back to at 4PM - so trust me, you want to restore your energy for later on for ashtanga )

Now back to where we are heading on this adventure,

I don’t want you to think it is fully free to enter so I will tell you now so its not a surprise once you get there

Cost: To add a village visit onto a group tour it is usually 300-500 Baht a person.  The authentic villages are typically free to enter as the locals make money selling their crafts to tourists.

Who are the Karen people? The Karen are a tribal group who have historically lived in the hills in Myanmar (formerly Burma) side of the Thai border. Best recognized for their elongated necks, the Karen women wear heavy brass rings around their necks, forearms, and shins. While the Karen men are mainly field workers and farmers, the women have a rich history of crafting from wood carving to weaving. Overall the Long Neck Tribes live a rugged, tedious, and simple lifestyle, but the fruits of their labor are colorful and very lively.
There are still around 40,000 Karen members today, but thousands have had to flee Burma over the decades due to political unrest. Fleeing to Thailand was a very safe choice for many, but the ones that came are largely illegal immigrants and do not have options for gaining Thai citizenship. While things are much better for the Karen that have fled from Burma, the lack of opportunity for the Long Necks has confined the groups to small pockets separate from most of modern Thailand.
On one hand, it is beautiful they have been able to keep their traditions alive and on the other, it is a struggle to balance the new world with the old. A visit to a Karen tribal village as a tourist isn’t without its own ethical questions (which we’ll touch on below), but in the end we are very glad we made our visit as it was an experience.

Why Do The Karen Have Long Necks?
While it may seem that the Karen women have unusually long necks, their traditional brass rings actually smash their shoulders and rib cages down just making their necks seem longer.  The brass rings, which are also around their shins and arms, are made out of one solid piece of metal making them quite heavy.  Each time a woman adds a ring to her neck she is fitted with a new neck piece that coils around and around. 

Why Do The Woman Do It?
The biggest reason why the Karen women put themselves through the neck lengthening routine is simply tradition.  While there are some of the women that need to stick with the tradition to make money since they are refugees, there are some of the women that do it just to hold onto their heritage.  In the early days of the Long Necks, the practice of the brass rings was started not just for beauty, but also to protect against tigers and in some cases even just because the village leader said he preferred it.
Today many of the young Karen women are breaking with tradition and it is estimated that the neck lengthening practice only has a few generations of life left. 



Consider Staying Overnight:
If you really want to feel truly comfortable with visiting the Karen Long Necks, an hour of walking through the village won’t cut it and you really should consider staying overnight.  The ultimate experience is to book with

https://www.booking.com/hotel/th/maew...

Can’t not wait to share more of this journey i been on,

Thank you for all the blessing.

See you all on the next

With love & light - Jasmin Gronski

https://allmylinks.com/jasmingronski