Wearing the rings around the neck do not elongate the neck. The Kayan people of northern Thailand are closely linked to Padaung but prefer being called Kayan. The women wearing these coils are known as "giraffe women" to tourists. Eddie Chang on Unsplash. The Kayan consists of several groups, including Kayan Lahwi (Padaung), Kayan Ka Khaung, Kayan Kakhi, Kayan Ka Ngan, Kayan Lahta, Kayan Gebar, and the Bwe people. Women of the Kayan Lahwi tribe are well known for wearing neck rings, brass coils that are placed around the neck, appearing to lengthen it. In the late 1980s and early 1990s some Kayan Lahwi tribes fled to Thailand in the face of hostility from the Burmese military regime. In the meanwhile, the reason to get a long neck cleared out and it turns out that Giraffes are not the only reasons Sydney wanted to have a long neck for she was also inspired by the Kayan people of South East Asia who put rings around their necks as a part of tribal tradition. The neck muscles are stretched, yes, but the neck itself is not made any longer. Women of the Kayan Lahwi tribe are well known for wearing neck rings, brass coils that are placed around the neck, appearing to lengthen it. Girls first start to wear rings when they are around 5 years old. The Padaung are popularly known for their brass neck coil. Wearing them isn’t always an easy task, though. The women wearing these coils are known as . Tourism. Over the years, the coil is replaced by a longer one and more turns are added. The coils, which are typically made of brass, weigh around four-and-a-half pounds to start with, and then more coils are added over time. The females from Kayan Lahwi would start with their neck rings at the tender age of five. Actually, Sydney had always been fascinated by the Kayan people of South East Asia. A Kayan Lahwi girl, wikipedia. Padaung (Kayan Lahwi) women of the Kayan people begin to wear neck coils from as young as age two. At the age of 5, girls in the Karen (or Kayan) and Padaung tribes of Myanmar are fitted with their first rings. The length of the coil is gradually increased to as much as twenty turns. Kayan People Have A Refugee Status. The meaning of the centuries’ old custom has been lost to time, and is now a signifier of cultural identity. In the 1980s and … The weight of the coils will eventually place sufficient pressure on the clavicles to cause them to deform and create an impression of a longer neck. When asked about her reasons for making the neck longer, giraffes were not the only inspiration she drew from. The Kayan people are a subgroup of the Red Karen (Karenni) people, an ethnic minority native to Burma (now Myanmar). Health Risks Are there any health risks involved in wearing all of these brass rings around the neck? The custom of wearing brass rings around the neck Sydney was so enamored with came from the Kayan Lahwi ethnic group of Burma. Kayan Lahwi Tribes. Thus, most of the Kayans now live in these refugee camps that are inaccessible to tourists like myself.