Village People - Thailand

The Village people of Thailand, are they on your must-see list? They were on mine, especially the long-neck tribes. And that was lesson number one, there is more than the long-necks, there are many tribes and all have their own history and ethnic backgrounds. Some are unrecognised by the Thai government, or the governments of their own homeland (usually Laos or Burma), so they’re more like the forgotten people.

I wasn’t armed with the history when I went out on my day trip to see them so set off with nothing but a camera and an open-mind. In Chiang Mai there is no shortage of trips offered to visit hill tribes, but I found what I wanted a tour group, through my hotel, who would takes us to 4 hill tribes with a buddhist temple (built in a cave) and an orchid and butterfly farm thrown in. (Im not sure why, but everywhere in south east asia seems to offer a visit to a butterfly farm.)

There was 8 of us in a mini van, plus a driver and guide. Our guide was good, his English was perfect and his lineage was actually from one of these hill tribes. He must take many trips because he’s on a first name basis with the people of all the villages.

We drive north of Chiang Mai for about an hour, to our first stop a ‘Lisu‘ village, people who originated in Tibet. We get to the village via a long and dusty dirt road. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I certainly wasn’t expecting what happened when we got there! We all pile out of the van and theres a woman there to meet us, in her ‘tribal’ dress. We get some photos and listen to our guide as he talks us through the layers. Then, we’re free to look around the village. Well, there is really no such thing as being free to look around - we were harassed from the very first instant - harassed to buy, buy, buy!!! All these women have appeared in their ‘shops’ in the minutes it has taken us to group outside the van. They all have wooden ‘shops’, covered over with a thatched roof and are all selling the same wares. Our guides final words had been - that we don’t have to buy anything, and we can take lots of photos. But then he walked away, and that wasn’t necessarily the case! We’re all pressured into buying things and I had more than one woman bring up the fact I had taken photos and so I should now buy something. Ok, thats not totally and invalid point, because I asked our guide how much the village people get from the $30 or so we pay to do the trip. The answer? Nothing!! Zilch! I was surprised, for sure. I dont think its fair, but how realistic is it that tourists are going to go and buy loads of souvenirs? Theres my other point, all the ‘wares’, which we were told are made by the locals themselves, are also for sale in Chiang Mai markets, and not always in ‘village people’ markets. I also some of them (bags, scarves and jewelery) in whole sale markets. Stacked to the roof.

The second village we went to our driver introduced us to his grandmother. This was a better experience, because we learnt more about the people, and the village wasn’t a set up of shop fronts manned by desperate women. We were able to wander through and talk to the locals.

The next village was only down the road but a different people with a different history. In this village, we walked the length of the main road, our driver had driven to the end to wait for us, and I left my bag in the van, armed with camera only. Well, I think that was handy for me! Because this time around, there were young girls, mainly, who were circling us like prey, holding their wares up to us at eye height - in your face type of stuff. During the walk down the road, village boundaries changed and we were in another village. So those from the earlier village had to stop, but we got the next round. So, I didnt buy anything this timearound, and got some nice photos of buildings, examples of village life. However, we all still got into the van with something like relief - to get away from the badgering. And even then, we still had arms coming into the van dangling wares, in a last desperate attempt at a sale.

The final village stop was at the ‘Long necks’ village - these were the ones I really wanted to see, because I remember hearing about them when I was a child. Alas, it was the same as the other villages, and although these women didn’t harass us as much, every single female (women and children) was ‘on show’ - sitting in her ‘shop’ , ready and hoping for a sale. There was no sign of ‘village life’ at all, just these shop fronts, enough to make us wonder if it was even a real village! And only about 30km from Chiang Mai city! We even asked the guide if, at the end of the day, the women pack up, snap off the rings around their necks, put the levi’s on and head back into town - to a more western life, but, apparently not.

So, the rings. Well, they really are quite something to see in real life. They came about from the likes of protection - from animal attacks, and as beautification. Only the very young girls weren’t wearing them, it would seem from about the age of 7 they become adorned in these big, gold rings. Once a year they are removed, for a day, and then back on they go. Its not just the neck either, ankles and just below the knees are also ‘ringed’.

I had no problem buying some wares in return for some photos, because you can’t be a discreet photographer in these situations. These people are only trying to make a living from tourism, much like many places in the world. I wasn’t expecting the ruthless sales tactics or the excellent command of english - so be warned, you will be hounded and hassled to buy. And like anywhere else, you can barter, but the prices arent necessarily any cheaper than those of the markets in Chiang Mai, selling exactly the same thing.

So for me, it was a disappointing day out. I never meant to have expectations, but this day was a bit full on for all of us in the van. Maybe we went with the wrong company, but I’m not sure any of the trips would differ much. For sure, go and visit the tribes - apparently the ‘home-stay’ option is very good, and you would learn a lot more about their daily life and goings on if you did this. Time constraints meant it wasnt an option for me so I had to make do with a day trip.

As per usual, its what you make it, enjoy!!