I asked her why she did not wear the costume.
"I am part of a new generation, and I do not like it. It is hot and
uncomfortable," she said. But she noted that she might have to because
the chief is considering forcing everyone to wear the costume. "If the
chief orders us, we will do it." The chief of the village, a
52-year-old named Nanta Asung, told me that Thaijun was the only woman
in the village who did not wear traditional dress and that her choice
was unacceptable. "If you are Palaung, you have to wear the costume of
the Palaung," he said while chopping pork for dinner. "This is a must.
A must!"
Asung said they must wear the dress because of tradition, but he
also spoke excitedly about its appeal to tourists and noted that half
of the village's income of $30,000 a year comes from tourism. That
night an Australian family was paying $15 to sleep in his hut. "He is
very worried that visitors will stop coming," my guide, who served as
my interpreter, told me as we left and headed to our own hut.
As we walked across the village, Asung began broadcasting over
loudspeakers: "This is a reminder that all women should wear
traditional dress. Some foreigners just came to complain that some
women were not wearing their costumes." (We quickly returned to explain
to the tribal chief that I was asking questions, not complaining, but,
unsurprisingly, he did not issue a correction over the village
intercom.)
Here is the full story, which is interesting throughout. A debate is raging as to whether it is ethical to visit villages that stacks rings on the necks of their women or elongate their earlobes.
Ah, a well deserved respite from debating mandated coverage to discuss the emperor’s new clothes.
Hey, it looks like Congress is in favor of the European model for vacation, while Governors prefer the Argentine model.
I sure know I’m not gonna drop $15 to sleep in a hot smelly hut in a 3rd world country unless the natives get all dressed up in stupid costumes for me. And every time they speak, they better use the word “ancestors” at least once per sentence.
Or I’ll take my money someplace else, thank you very much.
Is it ethical to visit sites where one can gape at women whose breast have been distorted by implants?
liberalarts, I grew up in North Carolina, and Cherokee, NC was then a tourist attraction on the Cherokee reservation near Asheville. Still is, I guess. Then the “Indian” handiwork was mostly made in Japan. Now, it’s probably made in China.
“Is it ethical to visit sites where one can gape at women whose breast have been distorted by implants?”
In Las Vegas, breast implants are the equivalent of trade school for young women.
“A debate is raging as to whether it is ethical”
‘Debates’ on ethics are not debates, they are fights.
As a Thai, I can attest that “stacks rings on the necks” and “elongate their earlobes” is part of there culture, they have been doing that for hundred of years. Putting rings in their neck is part of their tribal identity and not some kind of turture so that the chief can milk tourist for cash as you make it sound. So I think it is ethical.
However, I find his “It is a must. A must!” comment rather disturbing.
Much of the impressive economic growth recorded by Thailand in the 1970s and the early 1980s was owed to the steady expansion of the agricultural sector. This sector provided adequate food for the rapidly growing population and produced substantial surpluses of some commodities for export.
The Thai farmer’s ability to adapt to changing market conditions contributed to the country’s agricultural success, but even more important was the availability of large areas of virgin land for cultivation. Between 1950 and 1980, agricultural holdings nearly doubled to an estimated 22 million hectares, of which about three-quarters were farmed annually, and much of the rapidly growing population was absorbed in the expansion. By the early 1980s, however, most of the arable land had been occupied, except in the South, and continued growth of the agricultural sector became increasingly dependent on the acceptance of new technologies and the adoption of more intensive cultivation. Observers feared that without these changes growing domestic demand–both from increasing population and from rising expectations–would seriously affect the nation’s balance of payments position through the reduction of exportable surpluses of vital major foreign exchange earners, such as rice and sugar.
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