PEOPLE OF MYANMAR (BURMA)MAIN ETHNIC GROUPS311The typical dress of both the Kayin men and women is a longyiiwith
horizontal stripes (a pattern that is reserved exclusively for women in
other ethnic groups). A subgroup of the Kayin live on both sides of the
Thai-Myanmar border; it’s here that you’ll likely encounter the Padaung
tribe, a sub-group of the Kayin, whose women are best known for the
brass neck rings they wear. See p 192 for more about Padaung women.
The only major ethnic group to never sign peace agreements with
the Myanmar military, the Kayin are an independent-minded people;
the Karen National Union (KNU) is the best known of the insurgency
groups. However, the sheer diversity of the many Kayin subgroups has
made it impossible for them to achieve any real cohesion. Buddhist Kay-
in often side with the Buddhist Bamar against their Christian Kayin kin;
also in the 2010 election a variety of ethnic parties managed to secure
43.5% of the state legislature.
A 2011 report by the Netherlands based Transnational Institute (www.
tni.org/briefi ng/burmas-longest-war-anatomy-karen-confl ict) on Myan-
mar’s longest running insurgency concludes that the KNU ‘is facing
serious political and military challenges. It has lost control of most of
its once extensive “liberated zones” and has lost touch with most non-
Christian Karen communities. Already greatly weakened militarily, the
KNU could be ejected from its last strongholds, should the Burma Army
launch another major off ensive.’
Presently the only place in Kayin State that travellers can visit is the
regional capital Hpa-an.
Mon
The Mon (also calledd the Tailing by Western historians) were one of the
earliest inhabitants of Myanmar and their rule stretched into what is
now Thailand. As happened with the Cham in Vietnam and the Phuan
in Laos, the Mon were gradually conquered by neighbouring kingdoms
and their infl uence waned until they were practically unknown outside
present-day Myanmar.
As in Thailand, which also has a Mon minority, the Mon have al-
most completely assimilated with the Bamar and in most ways seem
indistinguishable from them. In the precolonial era, Mon Buddhist sites
Visit Karenni
Homeland (www.
karennihomeland.
com) to find out
more about the
people living
in one of the
poorest and least
accessible parts
of Myanmar.THE WAThe remote northeastern hills of Shan State – the homeland of the Wa – are off limits
to tourists. During British colonial times, these tribal people – living in fortifi ed villages,
speaking dozens of dialects and having a reputation for being permanently unwashed
and frequently inebriated – were hated and feared. A status they have yet to throw off.
The British distinguished two mains groups of Wa according to how receptive they
were to the coloniser’s attempts to control them. The ‘Wild Wa’ were headhunters, and
decorated their villages with the severed heads of vanquished enemies to appease the
spirits that guarded their opium fi elds. (Apparently they only stopped the practice in the
1970s!)
The so-called ‘Tame Wa’ allowed the colonisers to pass through their territory unim-
peded, yet the area inhabited by the Wa – east of the upper Thanlwin (Salween) River in
northern Shan State – was never completely pacifi ed by the British.
For decades the 30,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA) has controlled this
borderland area, gathering power and money through the production of opium and
methamphetamine; the US labelled the UWSA a narcotics traffi cking organisation in- Nevertheless, the UWSA struck a ceasefi re deal with the military regime in 1989
and the territory under their control looks set to be designated a special autonomous
region for the Wa under Myanmar’s new constitution.
The Independ-
ent Mon News
Agency (http://
monnews.org)
covers Mon and
Burmese affairs.