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Denied full rights as citizens and blocked from resettling overseas, the Burmese Padaung, or ‘Kayan’, refugees of northern Thailand have been locked into a dependency on tourism for nearly 20 years. Famous for the distinctive brass rings worn around their necks, the Padaung women and girls (often nicknamed ‘long-necks’) have proved a popular tourist attraction. Now calls are growing from the Padaung community and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) for the Thai authorities to grant the Padaung basic rights and opportunities and allow them to move beyond the tourist trap.

Up to 150 visitors are taken by Thai tour companies to one of the three Padaung villages every day during high season. However, little of the money this generates ends up in the hands of the Paduang. Without Thai citizenship, most Padaung (including women wearing neck rings) are forbidden to work and are largely confined to the villages, making them completely dependent on tourism for any source of income.

‘Tourists pay an entrance fee of 250 bhat (about £4)’, explains Mu Paw, a local Kayan woman from one of the villages. ‘About 1,500 baht is paid to the women wearing the neck rings per month during the high season. When tourist numbers drop during the rainy season, the fee is reduced and villagers must depend upon food aid. The money is controlled by a local Thai official, who works with the village authority. The Kayan people do not know how much the local authority and the Thai village chief earn from tourists or the tour companies’.

Women without neck rings and Paduang men receive nothing from the tourist visits, so try to make money by selling handicrafts and textiles.

The lucrative role of Padaung women in tourism has been highlighted further by the Thai government’s recent refusal to grant exit visas to a group of 20 Kayan, which would allow them to move overseas under a UNHCR resettlement scheme. The Thai authorities argue that the Padaung do not meet the criteria for refugee status because they live outside the main refugee camp. They say the Paduang are economic migrants who earn a good living from the tourist trade, rather than refugees fleeing conflict.

This has led to criticism from the UNCHR, who, in a recent press report, dubbed the Padaung villages ‘human zoos’ (1). The report cites the UNHCR as calling on the Thai government to allow the Paduang to exit Thailand or grant them full rights as Thai citizens.

A young Paduang woman called Zember, who was amongst those refused an exit visa, recently removed her neck rings in protest. Mu Paw explained that this was also an attempt by Zember to regain her freedom of movement. ‘Padaung women are not allowed to leave the village without permission from the Thai authorities’, she said.

According to Mu Paw, when the Padaung came to Thailand to escape persecution in Burma, the Thai authorities deliberately separated them from other refugees from the Karenni region. ‘They do not want the Kayan to leave Thailand because of the money they bring in from tourism’, she says. ‘The government told the world that the Kayan are free and happy, but this is not the reality’.

Mu Paw says that the Padaung do not want tourists to stop coming, but villagers should be allowed to control tourism to the villages so they can benefit from it more.

‘The Padaung want to have the choice to leave Thailand or continue to reside as citizens and without discrimination. Currently they have very limited education and employment opportunities. There is increasing concern amongst villagers over the future of our children. The Padaung have been living in the village like birds in a cage’.

Over 500 Padaung are currently registered as refugees, although there may be many more living in the villages as Karenni people continue to flee fighting across the border.

1) ‘Burmese women in Thail ‘human zoo’, Andrew Harding, BBC News, 01/02/2008