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Savants of the sea engulfed by
politics
By Tom Vater
Photographs
by Aroon Thaewchatturat
"I was taking
12 tourists to a coral reef. Suddenly the water
level dropped. I shouted for everyone to get on
board. I knew something was really wrong. I raced
across the bay, when suddenly, the water dropped
to nothing, spinning the boat madly until it was
stuck in the sand, on the bottom of the ocean, but
there was no ocean. I told the tourists to run,
and then the water came back."
- Sarang, a
Moken sea gypsy
KO SURIN, Thailand - The
Moken sea gypsies, a small indigenous fishing
community in Thailand, relied on their deep
knowledge of the sea to save the lives of tourists
and locals when the giant tsunami that devastated
coastal communities in South Asia swept across
their islands. Yet the Moken are facing stark
choices in the aftermath of the catastrophe, with
the Thai government now pursuing them to consider
citizenship.
The Moken, animist, nomadic
boat dwellers, have been sailing the Andaman Sea
for centuries. They make their homes among the
nearly 800 islands scattered along the sea off
Myanmar. The Moken are ethnically separate from
people in Thailand or Myanmar, with their own
culture, language and way of living.
There are currently
more than 3,000 Moken following this traditional
lifestyle. Most live off
the coast of Myanmar, though 200 of
these sea dwellers live on the
islands of Ko Surin National 
Park in Phang Nga
district on the west coast of Thailand.
Ko
Surin, a stunningly beautiful and popular marine
park, has some of Thailand's prime coral reefs,
frequently visited by scuba divers and tourists
from all over the world. The park, which lies far
from the Thai coast and close to the border with
Myanmar, has for decades afforded the nomadic sea
dwellers some degree of protection against the
vagaries of modern life.
In recent years, however, the
Moken have been under intense pressure from
authorities and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) to abandon their transient culture and
assimilate into mainstream Thai society, a
development the community has been
quietly resisting. What's more, increased contact
with park staff and tourists tempts the community
to adapt to the modern world. Prior to the
tsunami, the Moken ran several television sets off
car batteries in their village and were encouraged
by NGOs to produce tourist trinkets. The ancient
art of building kabang, traditional Moken
houseboats, has been slowly dying out. The
long-term effects of the tsunami may now force the
Moken to give up completely their struggle to
maintain their unique culture.
Immediately
after the tsunami hit, tales of Moken heroism
swept through the Thai and international press.
Surviving American tourist Mohezin Tejani had
nothing but praise for the Moken. "The Moken were
very helpful during the tsunami. They were the
ones who went out on long-tail boats in between
waves to pick up survivors in the water and on the
rocks."
Statements like this, as well as
the arrival of international television crews,
assured the Moken a special status among the
thousands of refugees created by the catastrophe,
after which the Moken took refuge in a Buddhist
temple on the mainland at Kuraburi, 200 kilometers
north of Phuket. But as soon as they had arrived
at the camp, they found themselves pressured by
squabbling power brokers, NGOs and politicians to
assimilate and remain on the mainland.
Dr
Narumon Hinshiranan, a social-studies lecturer at
Chulalongkorn University and originator of the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization's (UNESCO's) Andaman Pilot
Project - aimed at helping the sea gypsies help
themselves - backed the Moken's plan to return to
Surin.
"The Moken should be able to return
to Ko Surin if they want," Narumon said at the
time of the debate. "They lived there before the
park existed."
Others disagreed. The abbot
of Wat Samakitham, the pagoda where the Moken
found temporary shelter, wanted the sea gypsies to
remain on or close to the mainland and assimilate.
Nun Walairat explained, "We don't want to destroy
their culture, 
but we want them to be Thai. They
should learn how to speak Thai fluently and go to
a government school."
Like Narumon, the Ko
Surin National Park authorities also wanted the
Moken to remain on Ko Surin, where they have
become part of the working infrastructure. But
local people, including Nun Walairat, complained
that low wages the park pays amount to slave
labor.
As different strangers discussed
his community's long-term priorities, Moken chief
Dunung remarked dryly, "It's simple: there is no
work on the mainland. And we have nothing - no
boats, no kitchen ware, fishing gear or money."
Sarang further described the mood of his
people: "At least on Surin we can build our own
houses and live the way we want. We are not scared
and we can look after ourselves."
After
weeks of meetings, suggestions, attempted coercion
and confusion, the Moken decided to abandon the
relative safety of their refugee camp and returned
to their homes on Ko Surin. They found nothing but
devastation.
By February, however, the
Moken had cleared a new beach and the local
government had assisted the community in
re-establishing a new village. But survivors'
bliss has been short-lived. Large uncoordinated
donations from celebrities, the government and
various aid groups, propelled by tsunami fever
rather than sound planning, have turned the Moken
against one another and brawls over rice and tools
have become common.
Narumon is adamant
that the Moken be given an opportunity to regain
their independence. "We have worked for years with
the Moken to try and enable them to live here and
preserve their unique culture. What's happened on
Ko Surin is devastating for the sea gypsies."
Now the Thai government has ordered the
National Security Council to solve the problem of
identity for everyone living on Thai soil. Within
two years a report must be drawn up and indigenous
people like the Moken will have to prove they were
either born in Thailand or have been residents for
at least 10 years. Considerations for human rights
and cultural diversity are integral parts of this
effort.
The Moken's instinctive reaction
to the big wave is part of their intimate
relationship with the sea - one of the cultural
characteristics that makes this community unique.
Under the new initiative, Thailand has promised to
support these special traits. But the reality on
the ground promises little in the way of improving
Thailand's patchy rights record.
Dr
Panthip Saisunthorn, an associate law professor at
Thammasat University who is working on the
development of the new legislation, regards the
Moken as "basically Thai".
"The Moken
should be recognized as Thai nationals by birth.
Thailand has had legislation to this effect since
April 10, 2456 [1913], through the Nationality Act
enacted by His Majesty King Rama VI. I don't feel
there is a need to naturalize the Moken. If the
Moken are indigenous people who decide to
integrate into Thai territory, they should be
recognized as Thai by birth. But some state organs
try to consider them as aliens. For us, this
consideration is very dangerous for the Moken.
This means that they might not be able to enjoy
social security, particularly the right to health
care and the right to land entitlement. In
principle though, this was laid down in the
strategic plan on personal right and status
accepted by ministerial cabinet in January."
Meanwhile, the Department of Provincial
Administration has been ordered to draw up lists
of indigenous people who may one day be able to
claim some kind of Thai identity or even
citizenship. This process has started on Ko Surin
- with dubious results.
According to
academic Narumon, the records the local
authorities are compiling could be suspect.
"Government officials only used our [Andaman Pilot
Project] research when they realized that they
could not get a survey done in the two days they
spent on Ko Surin. They have now drawn up a
so-called Yellow Paper, and I really fear that
once something is documented, accurate or not, it
will be very difficult to change. The central
government promised us that no documents would be
drawn up for now, but these officials have gone
ahead any way. What's more, the local enforcement
of national policies is clearly a huge problem.
These people have no concept of human rights and
cultural diversity. There are no plans for the
Moken to manage themselves."
Establishing
a community's identity without a paper record will
be difficult and could be arbitrary. Moken from
Myanmar regularly visit Ko Surin and the
surrounding islands. An ID scheme could put an end
to this.
In the meantime, more urgent are
issues are affecting the Moken.
Starting in January, the
Kuraburi district office shipped numerous
volunteers to Ko Surin to build a new school, a
multi-purpose community pavilion and install
toilets on the island. District officials then
forced all the Moken into one village.
Traditionally, Moken villages are small,
semi-permanent settlements without 
communal
buildings. Now the Moken village community is too
big - communal disputes have become more common.
The sea nomads were then told to build
their new huts on the edge of the jungle, as the
local authorities feared another tsunami.
Traditionally the Moken build their homes on the
water's edge, because according to their cultural
beliefs, spirits inhabit the jungle.
Of
the current living arrangements, one Moken
remarked, "In a year's time we will abandon this
village and rebuild somewhere else, the way it
suits us."
In addition, according to
eyewitnesses from the Andaman Pilot Project, the
volunteers who remain on Ko Surin have imported
TVs, karaoke machines and pornographic digital
video discs (DVDs) to the Moken village.
On Friday, the Moken celebrated Lorbong,
their annual festival for ancestral spirits. This
year they were scheduled to be joined by a
multitude of visitors - NGOs, TV crews and
politicians - each and every one clamoring to push
their programs through, applauding one of
Thailand's most unique communities, while
attempting to document, control, harass and bribe
the sea gypsies of Ko Surin into cultural
extinction.
Tom Vater is a
writer, photographer and musicologist working in
South and Southeast Asia. His work has recently
appeared in the South China Morning Post and the
Far Eastern Economic Review.
(Copyright
2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved.
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