The Kayan are a sub-group of Red Karen (Karenni people), Tibeto-Burman ethnic minority of

Myanmar (Burma). The Kayan consists of the following groups: Kayan Lahwi (also called
Padaung, Kayan Ka Khaung (Gekho), Kayan Lahta, Kayan Ka Ngan. Kayan Gebar, Kayan Kakhi
and, sometimes, Bwe people (Kayaw).
Padaung (Yan Pa Doung) is a Shan term for the Kayan Lahwi (the group in which women wear
the brass neck coils). The Kayan residents in Mae Hong Son Province in Northern Thailand
refer to themselves as Kayan and object to being called Padaung. In The Hardy Padaungs
(1967) Khin Maung Nyunt, one of the first authors to use the term "Kayan", says that the
Padaung prefer to be called Kayan. On the other hand, Pascal Khoo Thwe calls his people
Padaung in his 2002 memoir, From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey. [

In the late 1980s and early 1990s due to conflict with the military regime in Myanmar, many
Kayan tribes fled to the Thai border area.[3] Among the refugee camps set up there was a
Long Neck section, which became a tourist site, self-sufficient on tourist revenue and not
needing financial assistance.[4]

According to U Aung Roe(1993:21ss) Kayan number about 40,000 in Shan State (around the
Pekon Township area) and 20,000 in Kayah State (around Demawso and Loikaw). A 2004
estimate puts the population at approximately 130,000. About 600 Kayan reside in the three
villages open to tourists in Mae Hong Sorn, or in the Ban Mai Nai Soy refugee camp.
Present settlement of the Kayans
According to Kayan tradition the Kayan settled in the Demawso area of Karenni State (Kayah
State) in 739 AD.[6] Today, they reside in Karenni (Kayah) State around Demawso and Loikow,
in the southern region of Shan State and in Mandalay’s Pyinmana and Karen’s Than Daung
township.
There are three Kayan villages in Mae Hong Son province in Thailand. The largest is Huay Pu
Keng, on the Pai river, close to the Thai Myanmar border. Huai Seau Tao is a commercial
village opened in 1995. Many of the residents of Ban Nai Soi Kayan Longneck village moved
into the Karenni refugee camp in September 2008, but 20 families and 104 residents remain
there, according to the sign at the entrance as of February 201.
Women of the Kayan tribes identify themselves by their forms of dress. Women of the Kayan
Lahwi tribe are well known for wearing neck rings, brass coils that are placed around the neck,
appearing to lengthen it.

Girls first start to wear rings when they are around 5 years old.[7] Over the years, the coil is
replaced by a longer one and more turns are added. The weight of the brass pushes the collar
bone down and compresses the rib cage. The neck itself is not lengthened; the appearance of
a stretched neck is created by the deformation of the clavicle.[8] Many ideas regarding why
the coils are worn have been suggested. Speculation by anthropologists, who have
hypothesized, that the rings protected women from becoming slaves; making them less
attractive to other tribes. It has also been theorised that the coils originate from the desire to
look more attractive by exaggerating sexual dimorphism, as women have more slender necks
than men. It has also been suggested that the coils give the women resemblance to a dragon,
an important figure in Kayan folklore.[9] The coils might be meant to protect from tiger bites,
perhaps literally, but probably symbolically.[10]

Kayan women, when asked, acknowledge these ideas, and often say that their purpose for
wearing the rings is cultural identity (one associated with beauty).

The coil, once on, is seldom removed, as the coiling and uncoiling is a lengthy procedure. It is
usually only removed to be replaced by a new or longer coil. The muscles covered by the coil
become weakened. Many women have removed the rings for medical examinations. Most
women prefer to wear the rings once their clavicle has been lowered, as the area of the neck
and collarbone often becomes bruised and discolored. Additionally, the collar feels like an
integral part of the body after ten or more years of continuous wear.

In 2006, some of the younger women in Mae Hong Son started to remove their rings, either
to give them the opportunity to continue their education or in protest against the exploitation
of their culture and the restrictions that came with it. In late 2008, most of the young women
who entered the refugee camp removed their rings. One woman who had worn the rings for
over 40 years removed them. After removing the rings, women report discomfort that fades
after about three days. The discoloration is more persistent.

The government of Myanmar began discouraging neck rings as it struggled to appear more
modern to the developed world. Consequently, many women in Myanmar began breaking
the tradition, though a few older women and some of the younger girls in remote villages
continued to wear rings. In Thailand, the practice has gained popularity in recent years,
because it draws tourists who bring revenue to the tribe and to the local businessmen who
run the villages and collect an entry fee of 500 to 600 baht per person. The Karenni National
People's Liberation Front (KNPLF), an armed cease-fire group, have made attempts to invite
the Kayan to return to Kayah State to set up their own tourist villages.

In January 2008, the UNHCR expressed reservations about tourists visiting the Kayan villages
in Northern Thailand due to the provincial government’s refusal to allow registered Kayan
refugees to take up offers of resettlement in developed countries.[11] It is believed this policy
was linked to their economic importance to the area. This policy was relaxed in late 2008 and
a small group of Kayan have left for New Zealand in August 2008.[12] Others entered the main
Karenni refugee camp (which is not open to tourists) in September 2008 and they are now
eligible for resettlement.

[1]

Courtship & Marriage Rituals

In the past the choice of marriage partners was usually the responsibility of the parents; but
today young people often select their own partner. The rule of marriage is only those
genetically related are allowed to marry. It is preferable for first cousins to get married.
However, marriage between different generations is taboo. Marriages with in-laws or
conflicting clans who have sworn not to marry for several generations is forbidden. It is
believed that if these rules are violated the misfortune falls upon all their relatives.

When a young man has decided upon a girl, his parents will approach her parents with a gift.
If the girl accepts then the couple are now engaged. The young man’s family have to provide
a dowry to seal the contract. Usually the daughter-in-law will move in with her husband on
marriage and in this case the price is higher than if the man moves in with his wife. The
contract ceremony may be ended by the families eating a chicken provided by the groom’s
family together. In this way the couple will love each other forever. The bride price consists
of several parts:

the initial lascion or pledge;

the tacu or the purchase proper, in money, buffalos etc. which belongs to the father of the
girl to pay him for his guardianship;
the talio which is divided up among the closest relatives, and consists for the most part of
utensils, mats, household goods etc.
the maithu or “milk compensation”, which belongs to the mother of the bride to compensate
her for the milk given when the girl was a baby, and usually consists of a silver coin or even a
little buffalo, which the mother keeps for her funeral;
the tiki or little gift of money given to the bride before they are united.
rice, pork, Thi (rice wine) and other food items or betel nuts for the wedding feast
Traditional religion

Kay Htoe Boe poles.

The Pwai dance.

Following the pwai dance the women sprinkle the men with water using eugenia leaves.

Fowl bone prognostication.

The Kayans' traditional religion is called Kan Khwan, and has been practiced since the people
migrated from Mongolia during the Bronze Age.[13] It includes the belief that the Kayan
people are the result of a union between a female dragon and a male human/angel
hybrid.[14]

The major religious festival is the three-day Kay Htein Bo festival, which commemorates the
belief that the creator god gave form to the world by planting a small post in the ground.
During this festival, held in late March or early April, a Kay Htoe Boe pole is erected and
participants dance around the pole.[13][15] This festival is held to venerate the eternal god
and creator messengers, to give thanks for blessings during the year, to appeal for
forgiveness, and pray for rain. It is also an opportunity for Kayan from different villages to
come together to maintain the solidarity of the tribe.

The Kayan have a strong belief in augury and nothing is done without reference to some form
of divination, including breaking thatch grass, but most importantly consulting the chicken
bones.[16]
In present times, the annual Kay Htein Bo festival is always accompanied by a reading of the
chicken bones to predict the year ahead. Fowl bone prognostication can be witnessed in the
Kayan villages in Thailand's Mae Hong Son province during the annual festival, and during
"cleansing ceremonies" that a family holds when it has encountered ill fortune. They also use
dreams to make predictions.