Women in this tribe stretch their necks with brass rings so they resemble mythological dragons - but they are only allowed to marry their relatives.<br /><br />The Karen Long Neck women fled Burma during the war and political unrest before settling in the hills of Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand, in the mid 20th century.<br /><br />While the men folk work the land, the females have continued their centuries old tradition of adding a brass ring to their necks each year until they are 25. <br /><br />They only remove the rings for a few hours once a year for a new coil to be added during a women-only ceremony. <br /><br />The weight of the brass pushes the collar bone down and compresses the rib cage helping to make their necks longer - which they believe adds to their feminine beauty and helps them to resemble a beautiful dragon. <br /><br />The tribes, also called Padaung people are only allowed to marry blood relatives and their preference is for their first cousins, according to a study by Dr Lwin Lwin Mon from the Department of Anthropology at Yadanabon University in Burma. <br /><br />Dr Lwin wrote: ''A go-between performs the betrothal and wedding ceremony. They marry within consanguineal relatives. The groom pays some silver coins as a bride-price and all the wedding expenses. The Padaung people practise monogamy and their divorce rate is only about 10 per cent.''<br /><br />Tour guide Khun Anan said that younger generations are following the tradition, which some believe began partly as a way to protect the people against animal attacks and evil spirits.<br /><br />Speaking during the video last Friday (27/09), he said: ''The Karen traditions are hundreds of years old. The neck rings gave them a unique identity which separated them from other tribes. They continue doing this to preserve their culture.''<br /><br />The Karen people, or Kayan people, also believe that the neck rings give the women an appearance similar to a dragon, a revered creature in their folklore dating back to the Bronze age. <br /><br />They believe that their tribe is the result of a union between a stunning female dragon and a male human. <br /><br />The women now earn a living by weaving and selling their handcrafted products to tourists, with some critics describing their villages as a ''human zoo''.
