Comments on: The Other Karen Tribe

By: Pai | Circle Our Earth

Pai | Circle Our Earth — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 10:49:58 +0000

[...] and that the tribal people are largely being exploited to bring in money from foreign tourists. Here is an article about this. So…we didn’t [...]

By: Peter Ole Kvint

Peter Ole Kvint — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 09:52:31 +0000

The tourists are different. Some tourists will have a performance and other tourists will have the virgin countryside. But how many tourists can visit a virgin countryside, and leave it virgin? What can you see on a countryside! The traditional house is a hut, a floor by a roof and some sheets as walls. A village is some huts by fowls and old or/and sick people, because all healthy are in the forest or in the field. If you will see the virgin countryside, you have need as work by them in a month.

By: Adriana

Adriana — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 08:51:56 +0000

My husband and I just came back from our honeymoon in Thailand. We spent 2 days in Chiang Mai where we took a day tour that covered 3 Villages including the Karen Village. As soon as we arrived to the village we knew that everything that was going on in there was staged. All the girls and kids were posing. In fact, they look so fresh and clean up, like they were ready to perform. I agree with Antonio that someone is using them as an income source and I understand that they are refugees and they wouldn’t be in better shape if they are sent back to Burma, but I only wish the tourist agency should have advised us that they were not authentic so we would be so disappointed.

By: Peter Ole Kvint

Peter Ole Kvint — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:51:00 +0000

they wanted to know how the Padaung live when they are not on display in a synthetic village.

If you was a tourist attraction. How many tourists will you been available to have on visit every day in your home, the all the days in many years?

By: Peter Ole Kvint

Peter Ole Kvint — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:24:40 +0000

This article have need of some corrections and clearing up.

Karen and Padaung are completely different, in language and culture and habitat, only a matériel culture connect them. Only Karen-people is suitable to tourists.

In Burma it was only the landowner, a matriarch and her heiress, the oldest daughter and her oldest daughter, which have the long neck. But in exile the neck been a political symbol, long time before the construction of the The Visit Centre. That make a new problem. In Burma been all long necked daughters married because, she has the soil, the livelihood. But in exile many men was lose. As not all necked girl was possible to been married.

Human Zoos or The Visit Centre is a idea from a globetrotter. A well-meaning globetrotter who hope to give the long neck girl a chance for a future, but he want to also help Thailand’s economically. If he do not make the Visit Centre he know as the villages been crowded with tourists. He also plan as the way to the Visit Centre have need to take six hours, as it was available but hard to get.

Opposite many other plans, this plan work. Today two of three of all foreign tourist start the trip to Thailand on the internet by the search words: Long Neck
because: Sun, beach, hotel, palms and sea give too many useless hits. Think how much is involve in Thailand.