The Akha Village - The Long-Neck Women of the Chiang Rai Hill Tribes

We made some new friends up north!

On a quiet, rainy afternoon in Chiang Rai Province, we paid a visit to the Akha Hill Tribe village, which is part of a rapidly-disappearing culture, that of the long-necked hill tribe women.

The Akha women traditionally wore the metal rings around their necks to protect against tiger attacks, though in recent decades it's become a way of preserving their heritage. Originally from far western China and Tibet, the Akha people have migrated through the centuries down to Burma, and eventually in the last hundred years to Thailand.

Starting at five years old, women begin adding rings to their necks each year at first, then every five years as they get older

Nowadays, fewer and fewer girls are wearing their traditional rings, although we did see a few children in the village wearing them. The tribe makes quite a lot of their money through tourism, but more and more girls are going into the city to go to school, which is great for their futures, but is contributing to the decline and ultimate disappearance of this tradition.

Although it was kind of touristy to visit the village, which was more or less a collection of gift shops and souvenir stalls, I still feel really glad to have gotten to witness this bit of culture. Our guide suggested that within the next 15 to 20 years the culture will have completely vanished.