TRIBAL MARKETING

Traveling to the northern tribes of Thailand was another unusual experience. Most of them come from Tibetan-Burmese-Chinese origin. Each one has their own culture, language, dress code :) and traditions. Extremely colorful. Rich with goods, poor with teeth...All the different tribes live in small villages, each about 15-20 households( their houses built on stilts, underneath which domestic animals are usually kept). Most of the tribes believe in nature, guardian spirits, soul and supreme substance. Agriculture practice (especially paddy fields) and hand crafting are the main sources for the tribes income. Oh yeah.. and the tourists of course...





Rice field cultivation:
The Karen:
The Karen tribe is believed to originate in southeast Tibet, though the majority live today in Mayanmar(Burma). Long Necks are famous for wearing golden rings around their necks, elbows and knees. The story tells , that once when living in the woods,while the men of the tribe were working in the fields, women used to get attacked by the tigers. With time women learned to cover sensitive parts of their body with rings and to add up more and more so there will be no exposed area for a tiger to grab on.
Since then, the tribe has migrated, the tigers are gone, but the rings still stay as a dominant part of Karen tradition.


Observation:
Walking through the village and browsing through their goods resonated with visiting a human zoo.. Yes this is sad.. As much as I longed to dip into ancient culture, I had this strong feeling that they are not doing it from choice. Many sad girls were sitting at their stalls and weaving, which took away our curiosity of photographing them. We just wanted to give respect. Some pictures still took place... only to show the world what is going on.. you decide... However on the other side of the coin, I was quite impressed by the products the tribes offered on display of their life. Blankets, table cloth, scarves, skirts, blouses, all hand made and embroidered in variety of colors, stitches,threads etc. Metal and silver necklaces, headpieces and rings engraved with tribal signs and other decorations. All this was unique and inspiring. I swore to get back to the sawing machine as soon as we get back home!!

Unmarried girl will wear a white tunic with a V neck. Married women will wear blouses and skirts with bold colors (usually blue and red).Not married yet....is it why so sad?? :(





Married and happy :



Lahu Tribe: Usually dressed in black clothes with embroidered patterns. Different decoration colors follow on pockets and sleeves trim. In this case though, she forgot to dress up....



But she was prompt to run to her stall to show us her handcrafts. We couldn't resist and we bought a bracelet :)

Here we said good bye Chiang Mai, chiang long mai...