The Padaung people (giraffe women) in Thailand

The Padaung or Kayan are a mountain people, a branch of the Karenni people (a Tibeto-Burman ethnic minority in Myanmar). 

Padaung women are called giraffe women because of their golden spiral necklaces that give the impression that they have long necks.

Since 1990, due to the conflict with the Burmese military regime (funded by the French government and the Total company), many Kayan have fled persecution and left for neighboring Thailand.

They live near the northern border, with uncertain legal status, in refugee camps where they are often used as tourist attractions.

The Padaung Women's Spiral Necklace

Padaung woman with her child

Padaung girls receive their first spiral necklace at the age of five, which is replaced by a longer spiral as they grow.

So it's not rings that we add as we go along, but a complete spiral that we change each time.

Clavicle

The spirals do not affect the vertebrae of the neck, but they put pressure on the collarbone, the neck is not stretched as many think, but it is the rib cage that sags and the more it sags the more the spiral necklace falls on the shoulders.

When the space between the collar and the top of the neck becomes large, it is replaced by a longer spiral.

There was a belief that Kayan women would die if their necklaces were removed, which is completely false.

They can remove it whenever they want, in fact some women have removed it permanently, but most prefer to keep it permanently, because the skin on their neck is discolored and not very aesthetic, in addition to wearing it constantly, it has become like a part of themselves.

Many hypotheses have been proposed by anthropologists to explain the wearing of these spiral necklaces:

• To protect against tiger bites;
• To make women less attractive to other tribes;
• To give them a resemblance to a dragon (an important figure in Kayan folklore).

But the true origin of this custom remains unexplained.

Controversy over giraffe women

The dictatorship in Myanmar discourages the continuation of this tradition, as the military wants to try to give a "more Western" image of this country.

Even within the Kayan community, a number of women have decided to abandon this custom.

However, since this practice generates tourism and thus brings money directly to the tribe, it does not completely lose its vitality.

Should we boycott visits to Kayan villages in Thailand?

The largest Kayan village in Thailand, Nai Soi, receives approximately 1,200 tourists a year and charges an entrance fee of 250 baht (about 5 Euros) per person.

In 2008, the UNHCR encouraged a boycott of tourists visiting Kayan villages, believing that women were exhibited as if in a human zoo.

But boycotting is not the solution and risks impoverishing the Kayans who also benefit from tourism.

Just compare the living conditions in the Padaung refugee villages and other camps, which I was able to do, and the "less attractive" refugees live in more difficult conditions.

It would be better to boycott Total and the French politicians who have allowed the Burmese military junta to hold out until today, as well as the French media which have been bought and thanks to which the French are the least informed Westerners about the horrors committed by the Burmese junta.

Shocking reports were broadcast in the USA and other European countries, except in France.

The Belgian government, horrified by the crimes committed by the Burmese regime with the support of France, even boycotted the Total company at one time!

Photos of the Padaung people

Padaung woman with a child

Padaung couple repairing the house

Kayan Woman

Young Padaung girl carrying cans of gasoline

Kayan woman breastfeeding her child

Young Padaung saleswoman in front of her stand

Padaung Family

Little Padaung girl

Padung woman doing her hair

Padaung trader preparing bottles of essence

Young Padaung saleswoman

Padaung children

Padaung children at school

Lady Padaung

Video: Song of a Padaung woman

Source: Wikipedia.org ; Photos: Pierre To