"We let the world have the crap beer and keep the Coopers, VB, Crownies, James Boags and such for ourselves."

"Over here, the masses drink stuff like VB, West End, Hahn and Tooheys."

It's cute how Aussies so consistently present these beers as an example of their national beer drinking cred. Oh, how I longed for a decent affordable stout or hefeweizen while I was there. For the record, I haven't met anyone in four countries who drinks Fosters. They must get some kind of subsidy.

Australia is not missing out on the faux cheese, but you really should give ranch dressing a go. Not necessarily on chips, but it's a wonderful wonderful thing on fried stuff. And salads.

The Padaung are lumped in as 'Karen' although 'Karen' describes a very diverse group of people/tribes/languages. There are Karen who are indigenous to Thailand, and Karen who have migrated to Thailand from Burma over the last few generations, as well as those recent arrivals in the refugee camps. It's likely most Thai people aren't aware of how this group of Padaung differs from all those other Karen they know. The Padaung and Karen are often self-described as 'cousins' and not as members of the same 'tribe'.

This specific group was settled there by some Thai officials/entrepreneurs, they didn't naturally migrate to that particular village and then take up tourism as a business. They do get paid relatively well (compared to other migrants and refugees), despite the fact that the bulk of the profit goes to the Thais who actually own that village.

There have been several recent articles on this situation that have discussed the difference of perspectives between the older women and youth as well. The Padaung are matriarchal, while other Karen groups are not, so the older woman are in charge, and to many of them, the situation they are in is far better than any alternative.

But, for the younger women, they have no opportunities there - they have to get permission just to leave the village. They have no access to proper education, no chance of becoming legal Thai residents, and now, no chance to even resettle somewhere else. As Zember has said in more than one article she's featured in, it really comes down to the freedom of choice. Right now, for those who wear the rings, their choices are to abandon a cultural practice they do value in hopes of getting an education or resettlement, or, hold on to their culture and face a future as a tourist attraction with a steady income but no autonomy or rights.

Are you sure it was the Thai government that wouldn't let those artists leave? I've had Thai friends try to travel overseas, and they did not have to get permission to leave from Thailand. It's the destination country that makes it difficult - requiring proof of income and assets/property that they wouldn't be willing to 'abandon' at home. They did not have the same difficulty when traveling to neighboring countries. I've never heard of Thai citizens needing permission to leave the country.

Also, it's not even 20 women who wear the rings. It's 20 members of a few families that have daughters/wives who are wearing the rings. Having just them leave might not be a huge impact, but it would quickly lead to all the other families applying for resettlement as well.

The money goes to the local and provincial officials of Mae Hon Song, where the village is located. Off the top of my head I think it's the governor who won't sign off on their necessary exit permits.

Making a stink with the central government probably could help. Getting tourists to boycott the village could also, although it would be difficult to effect a boycott immediate enough to have an impact. The typical justification tourists come up with to assuage their discomfort at the 'human zoo' experience is that these women have no other options, and at least this is better nothing. But now it's clear they do have other options that are being denied them.

If you go on one of these hill-tribe treks that visit the 'long-neck' village, the best thing you can do at this point is to not pay the fee and wait outside at the gate with the driver. Then when you get back, write a letter, volunteer, or contribute in some other way to helping refugees or indigenous people in Thailand.

I'm glad to see that some of the long-running and often overlooked problems in Burma are getting finally getting some attention in the midst of everything. It breaks my heart though, to think that every condemnation and sanction coming from Western governments builds the expectation among people in Burma that if/when they rise up, our governments are going to have their backs - when it's just not true.

Also, the human rights abuses aren't really suspected, they are pretty well confirmed by first hand accounts and research conducted by exiled human rights/media/civil society organizations. Too many times the world has sat by while atrocities go unchecked, just because we wanted the proof of 'hard' data and quantifiable evidence.