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The typical dress of both the Kayin men and women is a longyi withhorizontal stripes (a pattern that is reserved exclusively for women inother ethnic groups). A subgroup of the Kayin live on both sides of theThai-Myanmar border; it’s here that you’ll likely encounter the Padaungtribe, a sub-group of the Kayin, whose women are best known for thebrass neck rings they wear. See p 192 for more about Padaung women.The only major ethnic group to never sign peace agreements withthe Myanmar military, the Kayin are an independent-minded people;the Karen National Union (KNU) is the best known of the insurgencygroups. However, the sheer diversity of the many Kayin subgroups hasmade it impossible for them to achieve any real cohesion. Buddhist Kayinoften side with the Buddhist Bamar against their Christian Kayin kin;also in the 2010 election a variety of ethnic parties managed to secure43.5% of the state legislature.A 2011 report by the Netherlands based Transnational Institute (www.tni.org/briefing/burmas-longest-war-anatomy-karen-conflict) on Myanmar’slongest running insurgency concludes that the KNU ‘is facingserious political and military challenges. It has lost control of most ofits once extensive “liberated zones” and has lost touch with most non-Christian Karen communities. Already greatly weakened militarily, theKNU could be ejected from its last strongholds, should the Burma Armylaunch another major offensive.’Presently the only place in Kayin State that travellers can visit is theregional capital Hpa-an.MonThe Mon (also called the Tailing by Western historians) were one of theearliest inhabitants of Myanmar and their rule stretched into what isnow Thailand. As happened with the Cham in Vietnam and the Phuanin Laos, the Mon were gradually conquered by neighbouring kingdomsand their influence waned until they were practically unknown outsidepresent-day Myanmar.As in Thailand, which also has a Mon minority, the Mon have almostcompletely assimilated with the Bamar and in most ways seemindistinguishable from them. In the precolonial era, Mon Buddhist sitesVisit KarenniHomeland (www.karennihomeland.com) to find outmore about thepeople livingin one of thepoorest and leastaccessible partsof Myanmar.The IndependentMon NewsAgency (http://monnews.org)covers Mon andBurmese affairs.311PEOPLE OF MYANMAR (BURMA) MAIN ETHNIC GROUPSTHE WAThe remote northeastern hills of Shan State – the homeland of the Wa – are off limitsto tourists. During British colonial times, these tribal people – living in fortified villages,speaking dozens of dialects and having a reputation for being permanently unwashedand 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 theywere to the coloniser’s attempts to control them. The ‘Wild Wa’ were headhunters, anddecorated their villages with the severed heads of vanquished enemies to appease thespirits that guarded their opium fields. (Apparently they only stopped the practice in the1970s!)The so-called ‘Tame Wa’ allowed the colonisers to pass through their territory unimpeded,yet the area inhabited by the Wa – east of the upper Thanlwin (Salween) River innorthern Shan State – was never completely pacified by the British.For decades the 30,000-strong United Wa State Army (UWSA) has controlled thisborderland area, gathering power and money through the production of opium andmethamphetamine; the US labelled the UWSA a narcotics trafficking organisation in2003. Nevertheless, the UWSA struck a ceasefire deal with the military regime in 1989and the territory under their control looks set to be designated a special autonomousregion for the Wa under Myanmar’s new constitution.