Pai, a tiny town halfway between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son
Halfway between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son, the mountain road makes a winding descent into a large green valley carpeted with rice paddies and fruit groves. Mountains rise on all sides and butterflies flit along the streets. Here you'll find a tiny town called Pai, named after the river that runs through the valley.
Pai, a speck of a place with main roads (all four of them) offers you a rich bohemian atmosphere where you can collect your thoughts and commune with nature.
In Pai, every day is a lazy Sunday. And if you're ready for it, Pai offers you a wide palet of activities. Never a dull moment...
Outdoor Activities in Pai
The Pai River itself is one of the main attractions here. Outfitters organize rafting adventures on some pretty raucous rapids from July to January. Trekking is also popular, with 2- and 3-day treks to Karen, Lahu, and Lisu villages. See also Wikipedia for more info about nature, culture, hilltribes etc. around Pai. The adventurous can find a local map for self-guided hikes to nearby waterfalls and caves, but quite a few wayfarers just lounge in town living simply and enjoying the nightlife.
Hilltribes - Longnecks
Longnecks
The tribe of the "Long Neck Women"
The tribe of the "Long Neck " and "Long Ears" Women.
There are three Padung villages and all the three are near the Burmese border, not far from the city of Mae Hong Son.
The villages are
Huei Sua Tao
Na Soi
Nam Pieng Din
You can fly from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son, see one or two villages and fly back on the same day. It is not recommended !!! You better stay at least 3 days in this one of the most beautiful provinces of Thailand - Mae Hong Son. There is much to see in and around the provincial city.
The Padung are a sub-group of Karen (Bwe Group) living in Kayah state of eastern Burma on the Thailand border. Their numbor is less than 40,000 people. The Padung call themselves "Lae Kur" or "Kayan". They have their own language belongs to the Kenmic group in the Tibeto-Burman language family.
The Karen themseves are not one homogeneous group but rather a loose confederation of heterogeneous and closely related tribes. Among the smallest Karen tribes in Thailand are the Karen Padaung.
In Thailand, only a few families of Padaung have settled temporarily as refugees in Muang District of Mae Hong Son Province, living among other hilltribes groups, mostly Karen, and being the one of the main reasons for visiting tourists to that area.
The Padung escape from the Kaya State in Burma to Thailand in this century and are actually refugees of a political turmoil. They belong to the Karenni sub-group of the Karen People, which are still fighting for their independence in Burma.
The Karen-Padung occupied central Burma before the Burmese arrived from the North and they, together with the ancient Mon, farmed the Irrawaddy and Salween Valleys and built civilizations based on their unique cultures.
The Padung women are putting brass rings around their necks. This distorts the growth of their collarbones and make them look as if they have long necks - which they don't. This row of brass rings do not actually stretch their necks but in fact squash the vertebrae and collar bones. A woman generally has about twenty or more rings around her neck. This neck ring adornment is started when the girls are 5 or 6 years old.
The rings on the arms and the legs are not quite as prominent as those on the neck simply because the neck rings are so pronounced. However, these rings are just as important. The rings on the arms are worn on the forearm from the wrist to the elbow. Those on the legs are worn from the ankles to the knees, and cloth coverings are kept over most of these rings, from the shins down to the ankles.
Other Karen-Padung tribes reside in Phrae Province, and Baan Tha Ton in far north Chiang Mai province [close to Aka's Guest Home 14 km from Baan Tha Ton]. The Karen-Padung in Phrae live in the Wang shin District, in Mae Sin Village, Kang Jai Village and Mae Pong Village. These are in the vicinity of KM 75 on the Phrae-Wangchin Road. The women of. these Karen tribes display their beauty, and their status as married women, by wearing carved elephant tusk in their ears. When a woman is married, her ears are pierced and an elephant tusk of one to four centimeters in length is inserted.
During the early stages the ear pieces are quite small, especially for younger women. The weight of the tusks gradually weighs down on the ear lobe and the ear gets larger and larger, and longer and longer. Then larger tusks are inserted and the process repeats itself until the woman's ears become extremely elongated and floppy. The married woman wears these ear pieces for life.
The tradition of these Karen - Padung who are sometimes referred to as the "Long-Ears" is one of the oldest of peoples in this part of the world. Long before any of the present day territories were formed by boundaries into nations or countries, the peoples of Southeast Asia, particularly mountain dwellers, practiced a custom known as "Loaded Ears". According to this custom, the ears, being one of the most sacred parts of the body, were an important object of adornment. For beauty in the women and for strength in the men, the ears of both sexes were loaded. Today, among the Karen-Padaung of Phrae and of Burma, this tradition is continued for the female gender only, once married.
Unmarried girls in these tribes do not wear the ear pieces, but they do wear white dresses, in contrast to the red and black dresses worn by the married women, and on the backs of their hands a few magical words are written in spiritual languages. These words carry meaning to bless these girls to have a happy life.
Most of Padung are animists, but about 10 percent are Buddhists. Now, the number of Christians is increasing because of the Roman Catholic mission. The annual festival for the fertility and prosperity of the whole community is usually held at the beginning of the rainy season. Sacrifices are made to the spirits for good health and bountiful harvests. Rice is the Padung main crop.
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