THAILAND: The Golden Triangle & Long Neck Tribes

The Golden Triangle is the area where the Ruak and Mekong rivers form a natural boundary between three countries; Laos (to the east of the Mekong), Myanmar (to the north of the Ruak), and Thailand (to the west of the Mekong).

For centuries the Thai, Lao, Khmer and Burmese fought over the fertile hills of the Golden Triangle.

Then, in the mid-20th century, the Golden Triangle became the global capital of opium production and the international opium trade. 

During that time the Golden Triangle's rolling hills were filled with brightly coloured opium poppy fields and were used to harvest and extract opium. 

The hill tribes and villages were heavily involved in the production, use, and trade of the drug. 

Opium was literally “worth its weight in gold” as a kilo of opium could be traded for a kilo of gold. Hence the name "The Golden Triangle".

Needless to say, when so much money is involved, violence ensues and people suffer.

In the 1970's Thailand banned the sale of opium and cracked down on production and trafficking. They created several initiatives to encourage farmers to switch from growing poppies to other cash crops, including vegetables, coffee and tea.  

Think about that for a moment - the option of farming a crop that is worth its weight in gold, vs crops of vegetable, tea and coffee. For some, it would have been a tough decision.

We went to the Opium Museum to see another side of life that I am totally unfamiliar with. (Yes, I have become a bit of a Museum Geek.)

This is the preferred position when smoking opium. 

Scales and weights were used to weigh the precious opium packages. 

Because of all the violence in the hills over the decades, there are camps in Thailand that harbour refugees from Myanmar (Burma) in search of a safer life.

The Karen are a tribal group who are originally from Myanmar. The Karen Tribe now lives in small refugee villages in the area of Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Women from the Karen Tribe are called the "Long Necks" and are known for wearing rings around their necks to elongate them. 

This tradition started long ago when several Karen tribe women were killed by tigers. The leader of the tribe decided to have the women wear brass neckrings to protect their tribe from extinction. It then became a symbol of beauty and an accessory.

Traditionally, the more neckrings a woman wore, the more beautiful she was. 

Usually, girls start to wear the rings from the age of 5 - 6. They start with 5 rings and every year 2 extra rings are added. There is no fixed number of neck rings, but, it can go up to 25 rings.

The brass rings, which can also be around their shins and arms, are made out of one solid piece of metal and they are quite heavy. 

In reality, to give the illusion that their necks are unusually long, the heavy brass rings are actually a neck stretcher which pushes their rib cage and shoulders down over the years. I am quite sure orthopedic surgeons would be horrified.

Today many of the young Karen women are breaking with tradition and it is estimated that the neck lengthening practice only has a few generations of life left.  

There is controversy over the health issues with the long neck practice, but it is also controversial because the women are being used for popular tourism purposes.

The controversy is even a little more complicated. The Kayan Long Neck tribes, after years of living in Thailand as refugees, are still being refused Thai citizenship which forces them to continue to live in refugee camps. 

While things are much better for the Karen who have fled from violence in their home country, in Thailand their freedom is still restricted, employment is largely prohibited, and opportunities are bleak. So the women turn to crafts to sell to tourists in their camps.

Hence, the tourism industry is a revenue generator for them. But, to add to the controversy, tourism is also a revenue generator for the Thai government and is considered by some to be an incentive for the government to keep the refugee status quo.

During the quiet seasons and during the COVID pandemic, there were no tourists to the villages and like everyone else in the tourism industry, the Kayan Long Necks suffered without an income. 

As in all controversies, there are many perspectives. Some people advocate boycotting visits to the refugee villages because they view it as a zoo for humans and that they promote the government denying the refugees Thai citizenship and freedom. Others argue that visits to the refugee camps are a way to support the refugees and help them make a living. 

Politics can be controversial and innocent people can be caught in the differing perspectives.