Padaung of the Karen hill tribe are also known as “long-necks” because of the heavy brass rings they wear around their necks.

Karen Hill Tribes living along the border with Myanmar in Thailand, The Padaung members of the Burmese Karen are also known as the Padaung or “long-necks” because of the heavy brass rings they wear around their necks. How they came to be “long-necks” is the stuff of legend. Long ago, the headman of the tribe had a dream in which he was told that a tiger was going to kill one of the children in the village, a child that had been born on a Wednesday. Since tigers kill their victims by first breaking their necks, the headman decreed that all children born on a Wednesday should wear heavy brass rings round their necks.