Vietnam man hopes for hair record
Mr Tran's hair is too much of a burden for him to work
A Vietnamese man who has not had a hair cut in 31 years hopes to get into the Guinness Book of World Records for having the longest hair in the world.
Tran Van Hay, 67, has hair which is now 6.2 meters (20 feet) long, according to Vietnam's state-controlled press.
A local official said Mr Tran stopped having haircuts after one made him ill.
"He can't work anymore as a farmer because of the volume of hair so he's just collecting herbs for traditional medicine as charity work," he said.
According to the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper, Mr Tran last washed his hair six years ago, and now usually ties it up and covers it with a scarf.
The paper said he had not yet approached the Guinness World Records to get his claim authenticated.
According to the organisation's web site, the current record holder is Hoo Sateow, a man from northern Thailand.
His hair was measured in 1997 at 5.15 m (16 ft 11 in).
