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FOR USE WITH FEATURE TITLED LONG NECKED WOMEN--Mu Ri, 14, holds Mu Kue, a relative's daughter, as they watch other children play June 6, 2000, in the northern Thai village of Huay Pu Kaeng. The Padaung, also known as the "long-necked women," are an ethnic hilltribe minority from Myanmar who have fled across the border to Thailand over the years to avoid fighting between the Karen and the Myanmar government. It's now money rather than custom which keeps the coils on women. They've become the unofficialsymbols of Mae Hong Son Province, attracting thousands of foreign and Thai visitors who come to gawk, photograph and buy their souvenirs. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

August 1, 2000 

HUAY PUU KAENG, Thailand (AP) - Some tourists see the charming children with their necks rigidly encased in heavy brass coils and say, "Poor, girls."

Their mothers view things differently: The coils are passports to a better way of life and some profit for the Padaung tribe.

Once a tradition of this ethnic minority group from neighboring Myanmar - no one knows why the custom developed - it's now money that keeps the coils on the so-called "long-necked women."

More than a decade after fleeing their homeland, several hundred Padaung live in settlements along northern Thailand's rugged border with Myanmar. Denied the basic rights of Thai citizens and regarded as illegal immigrants, they are nonetheless allowed to remain because of their value to tourism.

They've become the unofficial symbols of Mae Hong Son Province, attracting thousands of foreigners and Thais who come to gawk, photograph and buy their souvenirs.

Encouraged by their mothers, many girls accept money from tourist boat operators to become long-necked women. The companies pay 500 baht, about dlrs 13, a month to every girl who dons the coils, which elongate the neck bthienraphap. "I do not see what the future holds for them."

Their numbers at Huay Puu Kaeng have increased from a few dozen to 107, with marriages occurring only within the group.

"The girls will end up doing what their mothers are doing to survive," the teacher says.

On the Net:

Thai regional news site: http://www.chiangmainews.com/hilltribes.html

Site on Burmese tribes: http://litreview.com/199711/183.html