I have seen several tour companies, while traveling through Thailand, offering tours to visit long-neck tribes. These are tribes of hill people that put brass rings on the necks of their women and girls.

Each time I checked on these tribes, though, before going to see them, I found out they did not allow photographs . It seems they believe they lose a little of their soul each time a picture is taken. So, I never visited any of those tribes, since no pictures were allowed. I had heard of some tribes that did allow photos. I would wait and go see them sometime.

I located such a tribe in northern Thailand in the mountains. They are the Karen tribe. There are about 250,000 of them. They are thought to have originated in Tibet. They live in the moutains west of Chaing Mai, Thailand,  in bamboo houses built on stilts. Their pets and other animals live under their houses. The women are great weavers and make not only their own clothing, but beautiful clothes to sell. They also have many hand-make crafts to sell when you visit their village.

When a girl is still very young (about 5 or 6), brass rings are put on her neck as a beauty enhancement. Rings are continually added over time, creating the appearance of a long neck. After about 2 years of wearing these rings, the girl's neck muscles are too weak to support the head, so the rings cannot be removed .

The brass rings do not actually stretch the neck as it appears. They distort the growth of the collarbone and make them look as if they have long necks, which they don't. The row of brass rings do not actually stretch their necks, but actually squash the vertebrae and collarbone. A woman usually has about 20 or more of these rings around her neck.

They also wear rings on their arms and legs from the knee down. This is not seen as the long dresses keep the leg rings covered.

These tribes use their custom of ring wearing as a way of income from tourism. They sell their handmade crafts to the visitors.They have a nice variety of items for sale, such as trinkets, hand-made scarfs, etc. I even saw some of the brass rings they wear for sale. They also charge an entrance fee for people to get into their village, which is a big part of their income. They make a lot more than they would working in the fields, and it is much easier.

I hired a tuk tuk for the trip. He let me out at the gate. There is a fee to get into the village. Once inside, I walked around the bamboo and grass huts. The people live in some of them and others are to display the homemade goods they have to sell. 

The women would allow you to have photos taken with them, if you wanted to. At one point, I saw a group of girls doing a dance that I was able to get a video of.