Chao Lay welcome pause on tourism, construction

Source: AFP Published: 2020/11/23 17:48:40

The COVID-19 pandemic has wrought havoc across the world, but for Thailand's "sea gypsies" it has brought welcome respite.

Moken fisherman Sanam Changnam shows his daily catch of fish off the coast. Photos: AFP

Since the pandemic began, life has been easier for Sanan Changnam and his people, the Chao Lay or "people of the sea." 

There's an abundance of fish to eat and real estate projects on their ancestral land in Phuket have come to a standstill. 

With a makeshift snorkel and a spear, Sanan stalks fish and shellfish in the turquoise waters of the Andaman Sea. 

"We don't dive as deep as before, so it's less dangerous," Sanan, 42, tells AFP. His ancestors, former nomads who came from Indonesia nearly 300 years ago, settled in Rawai, a beach in the southern Phuket. 

More than 9 million visitors came to Phuket in 2019 and the boom has had a huge impact, depleting fish stocks, shrinking fishing grounds and increasing construction. 

Risky fishing methods taken to avoid patrols were common. Some died from not respecting decompression times. The pandemic has brought a pause.

Fishing boats dock along Rawai Beach at their settlement on the southern Thai island of Phuket on October 2. 

Struggle for home

The threat of eviction also hangs over the 1,200 Chao Lay living in Rawai, where property developers have been eyeing their land. 

But with tourism halted because of the virus, tens of thousands of workers have left Phucket for their home provinces and construction projects are on hold. 

"We hope that all of this will be abandoned," says Ngim Damrongkaset, 75, a representative of the Rawai community. 

"They want to drive us out of our homes, but also to deny us access to the sea."

The battle with the tourism promoters is an unequal one: Many Chao Lay are illiterate and did not know they could register their land in their name.

Narumon Arunotai, an anthropologist at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, says the government "must seize the opportunity provided by the pandemic to rethink their vision on Chao Lay."

"COVID[-19] is an opportunity to change mentalities. Mass tourism in Phuket has been a catastrophe for the sea gypsies," she adds.

One option is for authorities to buy the land and entrust it to them permanently. 

The government has recently allocated an area of mangrove to neighboring Chao Lay communities to temporarily live and fish.

"They need a special education system that preserves their culture. The government needs also to allow them to fish more freely," says Narumon.
Newspaper headline: Seaside survival


Posted in: ASIA-PACIFIC

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