Hey dear community, first of all I would like to welcome you all to my new post and hope you have a day so far that has brought many positive experiences into your life! Today I would like to share an experience I made during my time in Thailand and I am happy if you can learn new things.
I have explored so many things in Thailand, but one of the best experiences is always being able to look into the traditional life of people, no matter in which country. When I visited Chiang Mai I made a detour on the way and this was part of a day trip which was really worth it and in this village, I spent about an hour which was enough to get many insights into art and culture of the different tribes. Even if different peoples live here, the most famous main group are the Padaung, which are particularly known for the rings that are worn around the neck, but I will go into this in more detail later this post. It is very important to know that one of the most important sources of income of the village is tourism and if groups or individuals come here this is extremely important to support the tribes and this also refers to the works of art which are made by hand and who is looking for an authentic souvenir and wants to support people, should buy something here. In addition to tourism and handicrafts, there are also agricultural incomes that benefit the residents and if I have understood this correctly, some organizations are also committed to maintaining this tradition.
This village is located in the so-called golden triangle and in the past a lot of opium was grown here to secure the life of the people and during this time, there was only this source of income which today has been replaced by state funds and other doors were opened to people like the cultivation of coffee or other products, but tourism remains the most important source of income. A woman told me that the village would not exist without visitors, but there are also voices that have a problem with the culture because they are not 100% natives and once settled from the area of Myanmar and many of them came to Thailand during the 80s. Why people fled had various reasons and is also related to opium wars and many were also forcibly expelled and had to leave their country during various crises.
Even if there are critics, it's for sure a real ethnic group who have their own culture or language and I have seen how artistic and creative the people here are and make so much effort to present their culture. Even when I started taking pictures, this really made people happy, but there seems to be a lot of criticism also as already mentioned, because people sometimes live very isolated and do not leave the area and many of the inhabitants do not even have a Thai passport. The long necks they wear are part of the identity and these spirals are made of brass and traditionally worn around the neck, but nowadays there are many young people who wear a spiral that can be removed again to go to school and only partially accept this tradition. Behind these rings lies a deep symbolic meaning and it is also seen as a sign of protection which also has its own and strong value of recognition which someone definitely does not get to see every day and I also saw something like that for the first time.
In the village there were also many traditional clothes to see and there are also more tribes to be found here as well as the Akha who stand out with their striking hats or the jewelry and also the Lahu people can be found here who are known to be traditional hunters. Furthermore, the Lisu or Karen can also be found here, which also have their own story to tell and the special thing about the visit was definitely the ethnic diversity as well as the combined settlements. Even though those with the long neck probably attract the most attention, it was just as interesting for me to learn more about the other tribes, many of which also come from the area of Myanmar and are all extremely creative. I can only recommend every visitor to Chiang Mai like me to make a trip to Chiang Rai and on the way make a detour to one of the traditional villages to immerse yourself in the culture.
Many thanks for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new and like my post and appreciate my effort! I captured these pictures with my Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm and iPhone 16.