HUAY PU KENG, Thailand — In front of nearly every bamboo home in the village of Huay Pu Keng are stalls selling trinkets related to the neck rings that women from the Kayan ethnic group traditionally wear.
There are cheater versions of the brass coils, with helpful hinges for easy application. There are special pillows for sleeping with the rings, which compress the clavicle and create the illusion of an unnaturally elongated neck.
There are wooden carvings of the women with their neck decorations and something called “long-neck wine,” although, confusingly, the bottles are squat and round.
The entire economy of Huay Pu Keng and other Kayan villages, from local officials to tourism profiteers, depends on the metal adornments clamped around the necks of its women.
“For older women, we wear the rings for tradition,” said Mu Na, 58, who sells trinkets in another tourist village….
