The Woman with the Iron Nose

[Wallenda]

OK this one's not exactly nightlife related, though I have seen them at night in the Nana area.

 

I'm a some time visitor to Bangkok, have never been to the Middle East, but around Soi 3, plenty of times I've seen these women walking around in their black burkas with a decent amount of their face exposed under the black headshawl but with that very bizarre metal flap thing on their nose.

 

Obviously they're Muslims, but:

 

1. Are they from one specific area/country?

2. Is this a common thing in the place they're from? I mean, back home, are most women walking around with iron flaps on their noses? Is this some specific sect of Muslims that do this (so I might seen iron flaps in Iran and also in Algeria, for example, but on women of this particular sect)-- I've seen plenty of Muslim women from different regions/countries, and this one I've only seen in Bangkok (obviously they're not from Thailand). Or is it more a regional thing (from one region/country)?

3. Brings up another question: do they at least have some kind of fabric or something underneath so their noses aren't getting burned everytime they go out in the daytime?

 

[Coss]

ones I've seen are gold, and decorative

[TheCorinthian]

That generally means they are from Iran.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bandari_Burqa.jpg

[Lusty]

That generally means they are from Iran.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bandari_Burqa.jpg

I didn't think Iranian women were allowed out of the country?

[Wallenda]

Sorry for long non-reply -- was sick/busy awhile.

 

What I saw didn't look like that picture. The ones I saw really did look a lot more like iron than gold. And I thought just on the nose but maybe I'm not remembering it correctly.

 

Came across this on Google:

http://www.qatarliving.com/node/15203

 

Mentions of it in Qatar, Oman, UAE, also that it's more common for bedouins(?)