The Karen  Padaung tribe people are not originally from Thailand.  You can watch the National Geographic video (below) for all the history and information about them.

Getting There

Most multiple attraction tours out of Chiang Mai include trips to various “long neck” villages.  The Karen hill tribe village I went to was very close to Chiang Mai.  I hired a driver from a tourism booth in the city center.  I chose a 1/2 day tour which included the drive out to the hill tribe and other attractions in the area.  Within 5-10 minutes from the “long neck” village there were many road signs advertising tourist attractions very close by such as an insect museum, Tiger Kingdom, Monkey School, ATV off road tours, target shooting and much more.

I’m pretty sure I overpaid for the tour which cost me 1000 baht ($30 USD) for the driver who drove an air conditioned pick-up truck.  He took me where ever I wanted so I chose the insect museum and he pretty much automatically drove me to the m0nkey school and a “Asian Arts Museum” which turned out to be an Indian owned, overpriced souvenir peddler which I’m sure he got commission for.

The (refugee camp) Village that the Long Necks Live and Work at

Save your Souvenir Shopping for Long Necks

The long necks let themselves be so visible to tourists for a simple reason.  I would be willing to be the tourism industry supplies the Karen hill tribe outside of Chiang Mai with a large percentage of their income.  Most of the women are sitting there and working on their crafts while the tourists walk by.  They seemed more than happy to pose for pictures with any tourist and I felt obligated to buy some souvenirs from them if I was to ask for a picture.

While I saw a couple men working in a nearby field I wondered where the men of the tribe were.  I would guess they worked somewhere in the nearby area performing agricultural based jobs.  Evidence of the men’s handiwork was all over the village.  I counted 5 babies and/or toddlers in the village.  My driver joked that since the long necks don’t have television cable, the only thing they can do is make the babies which I thought was pretty funny coming from a Thai guy speaking broken English.

Showing off Long Neck-made Bracelets I bought as gifts

Human Zoo?

I have heard many people criticizing the tours and presentation of the long neck people as some sort of human zoo which I completely disagree with.  While the women are on display in plain view of all the visitors, they are working on their crafts.  Anyone who calls this a “human zoo” obviously prefers they be packed in some tiny sweatshop somewhere working on their scarfs, purses, bracelets and other handicrafts 16 hours a day.

Most of the people seemed happy to have foreigners visiting while others seemed burned out from constant photo requests and bartering from the steady flow of tourists.  Overall like most Thai people, although truly Burmese refugees, the long necks seemed to be happy and friendly people.

Beautiful Young Pedaung Woman and her Baby

Long Neck Working Women

Overall Impression

I enjoyed my visit to the Karen long neck hill tribe.  The people were extremely nice and it was interesting to see people with a unique culture  that only exist in small numbers in a small part of the world.  The souveniers were some of the same things you can find all over Thailand but I felt better buying stuff directly from the source which allowed me to authenticate my gifts for my family by sending pictures with the actual items which I bought.

Even if you do not plan to buy any souvenirs or gifts, the visit to the long neck village will make you really appreciate all the handicrafts and Thai art you see sold throughout the country and region.  The stuff doesn’t come from some giant robotic factory or some billionaire businessman, it comes from local tribes like the long necks.

I would recommend the trip to the Karen Hill tribe to anyone who visits Chiang Mai.  There is also a dozen or more other attractions in the same area which is only a 30-45 minute drive outside the Chiang Mai city limits.

Souvenirs I bought as Gifts from the "Long Necks"

For More Photos of the Karen Long Neck Hill Tribe Please Visit tourismPICS.com