The long-necked women of a popular Thai tourist destination have spoken out about the prison-like conditions they are forced to endure as inmates of what they describe as “a human zoo”.

Padaung women, who fled Burma as refugees in the 1980s, are famous for wearing dozens of brass rings that give the impression of grotesquely elongated necks. Thai businessmen quickly spotted their curiosity value and set up tourist villages, charging visitors about £20 to see the women, whose images have subsequently appeared on postcards and in holiday brochures and promotional material for Thai tour operators.

Yet conditions in the villages are “worse than prison”, the women say. “Our men are forbidden to seek work, we cannot grow our own food and if we try to leave, we are beaten,” says Mun Mun, who lives in the village of Nai Soi. “We have no privacy. We are like animals in a zoo.”

Officials who run the villages deny that the women are exploited and say they are free to leave. But six who recently tried to flee were allegedly kidnapped and returned to work in the tourist village.

“We believe that the only purpose of their kidnapping is for exhibition in these tourist camps over the peak holiday season, which is beginning now and will continue over Christmas,” said Thai police major Worapot Phuttawong.

The luxury operator Cox & Kings said that it “does not actively promote visits to tribal groups in Thailand”, and the adventure specialist Explore said: “We are aware that the treatment of Padaung women in Thailand, and the conditions that they live in, are controversial. As a result, we do not visit these women on any of our tours.”