Submitted by Ioana Andritoiu on the 2016 winter session program in Thailand and Laos sponsored by the Department of Leadership…
Our departure from Laos was slightly unusual. We took a small boat for two days down the Mekong River where we saw the beautiful scenery of rural Laos. Passing by fishing families would wave at our boat. After these two days, we finally arrived in Thailand and walked over the Lao and Thai border, a completely new experience for me. Afterwards, we took a bus to Chiang Rai. Chiang Rai is a very industrial looking city, but it has its charms. The famous white temple is one of the main attractions, but aside from that you can visit tea farms and the long neck villages.
The long neck village is best described as a human zoo. Although I understand that no one is forcing these people to live in this area, they are forced economically. What saddened me about this village is that once everyone saw our group coming, everyone started posing. However, there was sadness in their eyes. An image that stayed with me is a little girl that had a couple of rings around her neck and was covered in face paint. When she saw us, she awkwardly held up the peace sign, but she wasn’t smiling, in fact, she seemed to be on the verge of tears. These children are born without a choice in this community solely to cater to our desire of satisfying our appetite for things that are different.