Paradise Lost
Culture - Main Activity
Vote with your feet: Should George visit a Kayan village?
George is staying in Mae Hong Son, northwest Thailand. He is keen to learn more about the hill tribe peoples that live in the region, especially a group called the Kayan.
Seventy Kayan families live in three villages around Mae Hong Son after they fled their war-torn homeland in neighbouring Burma (Myanmar) twenty years ago.
Kayan traditions stretch back centuries. One of them is a major tourist attraction in Mae Hong Son: their ‘long neck' women. From a young age, Kayan women add brass rings around their necks that gradually make them longer.
© S.Rang-Klan -UNEP/Still Pictures
Should George visit a Kayan village?
Read the newspaper article then vote with your feet:
Stand nearest to the statement that is closest to your own view of the issue.
Be prepared to justify your decision!
Teachers Tip: download the statements and print and place in different locations in the classroom
A "George should definitely keep away from a Kayan village. The way Kayan women are treated is like modern day slavery".
B "George should ask the tour operator first before he visits a Kayan village. He needs to be sure that if he does visit it is the Kayan women that make the most money from his visit. He should also ask first before he takes a picture of someone".
C "George should go on his own, not with a tour operator and perhaps stay in the village rather than a big hotel in town. That way he can spend longer there and learn about the Kayan way of life from them, rather than a tour guide. He can also make sure any money he spends goes straight to the Kayan people.
D "George should visit a Kayan village with the tour group. The Kayan people are much better off than if tourists like him stay away because they bring money to the village".