‘Long-necked’ women
No one knows for sure why the Padaung women wear brass coils around their necks. One story says the coils are worn for protection against tigers. Another that the strange appearance will discourage the attentions of men from other tribes.

The Padaung themselves say the coil-wearing custom is to pay tribute to a beautiful female dragon that, together with the wind, was the originator of the Padaung tribe.