Thailand travel develops as the result of “”Human zoo”
They are refugees from Myanmar who come to Thailand to start a new life. They can’t imagine that in the new land, they will become a special “items” that attract the curious and pleasure of the stranger.
The guests who travel to northern Thailand often can’t ignore this well-known tourist destination: the village of refugees coming from Myanmar. However, they often call it by another name, visits the zoo.
Such villages like these are attracting more and more foreign tourists want to see the long-necked Myanmar women with their own eyes.
They are refugees from tribal Kayah, Northern Myanmar. Unbearable spectacle of war and poverty, they have crossed the border into Thailand and earn money by becoming “objects” live exhibits for visitors.
The special feature of this woman is a very long neck. They often carry a very large metal necklace from a young age in the belief that it will help them become longer neck.
People in Thailand zoo
Myanmar to Thailand who are recognized as refugees by the Thai government and living in the center for refugees in Mae Hong Son , under the protection of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees . Because of these women from Myanmar, they are not allowed out of the area management without the permission of local government.
Typically, the cost for living here is very expensive, especially in the case of wishing to work in Bangkok, Thailand.
The appearances of the women in he become an factor that impact to the Thailand travel industry which is booming in this country. The tourist village sprang up and the visitors have to pay about $ 10 to get to see the Kayah women. You can buy handmade jewelry or take a photo with the women here.
However, apart from the tourist town, Kayah people live very hard; they still suffer from poverty like many other refugees worldwide. Many people coming to work in the tourist village and stayed with settle down here. Their main job is to sit and be observed and taken pictures by the tourist.
The people in the Ban Huae Sua Tao village are living without electricity because the local government does not want to develop this area so that they allow the refugees to caome. People who live here have to buy electricity from a nearby town with higher costs.
Boycott tourism?
UN High Commissioner for Refugees said: Thai government didn’t allow 20 Kayah women to leave Thailand, although they have been accepted to refugees in Finland and New Zealand. Many people said the Thai government would like to keep them on because the women play an important role in the local tourism industry. “We do not understand why 20 this woman is not allowed to have a new life”, according to the regional representative of the UN High Commissioner, Kitty McKinsey.
“Thai authorities are treating them in a “special” way, while 20,000 people in Myanmar have been allowed to move to a 3rd country,”
Kitty said. “This is definitely a person zoo”. The only solution to terminate this situation is that the tourists should not go to places anymore. It is similar at other village, most of the money they made fall into the hands of tour companies rather than Myanmar refugees.
However, while only a small number of refugees who feel they are being held here, the other Myanmar people do not want to go. They say that life here is better anyway in Myanmar, because their children can go to school and they have revenues from tourists with less strenuous job as before.
The future for these women long neck and
After many long years in Thailand, many Myanmar women have decided to return to their homeland in Kayah State, Myanmar. They want to develop tourism in their own country when the military situation and conflict in Myanmar was no longer tense. They do not want to become what is exhibited in zoos in Thailand. They want to open self-employed tourist facilities.
Mu Par came home after 14 years of earning money in Thailand. Now, she is opening a small shop selling souvenirs in a traditional bazaar to help visitors better understand the culture of their uniqueness.
“In Myanmar, my children can go to school and we don’t have to be for from the relatives, cousins”, Mu Par said. Women like her, can make more money when the country is gradually opening and welcome more visitors each year.
“If we can make a lot of money from tourism, I hope that the other girls who are living in Thailand could return.”
There aren’t many Myanmar women wearing the necklace which makes them difficult to look straight. Families sometimes do not have enough money for their children to buy the expensive bracelet handmade, they also said that it is difficult for them to be able to get a job with these jewelry. The girls now can leave the ring out of the neck with the help of experts. In a short term later, the neck and shoulders that they can return to normal, depending on their age.
“Ask the women for photographing and pay them look like you’re treating them like animals” Phyoe Wai Yar Zar, a tourism worker Myanmar said. “Instead, you can purchase handcrafted items of the people here as a way to help them earn more money.”
Here are some pictures of Kayah women in Thailand:
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