PHOTOGRAPHY
TRIBAL VILLAGES
We stopped at a terribly commercial “Tribal Village” where people were on display. Tourist buses were the tip off that this was not authentic. There was a $5 entrance fee, quite expensive for Thailand. Oh, sure their wares were for sale and they were working on their crafts, but it was like a human zoo of at least three different tribes. Especially depressing were the many Padaung tribe (or “Kayan”) girls, the tribe where the girls begin to wear brass rings about their necks when they are five years old. They begin with five rings and stop at about twenty five, becoming “long-neck women.” Also photographed an Akha woman. The Tribal village is a private, for profit enterprise. The people of the tribe are supplied with a house and work, for which they are paid a salary.
