The meeting heard that the proposal, to allow the Sea Gypsies – who had been ejected from Laem Tukkae, east of the city – to occupy 50 rai in the Klong Bang Chelao-Klong Tha Jeen mangrove forest reserve in Rassada, had been rejected by the Sea Gypsies.
Deputy Mayor of Rassada Municipality, Phawat Supsuwan, explained that the proposed location was not suited to their way of life.
“We carried out a survey and we found out that they didn’t want our offer,” Mr Phawat said.
Part of the reason was that, at low tide, the water level in the canal connecting the mangrove forest with the estuary drops to the point where the Sea Gypsies cannot drive theirs boat to the sea.
The location is also not suitable for the climax of the Sea Gypsies’ cultural year, the Loy Reua Festival, when they float hand-made boats out into the sea as offerings to the spirits of the sea.
He added that there is concern, too, that the settlement of Sea Gypsies will encourage others to encroach on the surrounding mangrove forest.
The meeting also revealed doubt on the part of some officials over the entire approach of the past 30 years to solving the problems of the Sea Gypsies: Is the government helping them? Or is it imposing unwanted “solutions” on them?
There are five communities of Sea Gypsies on Phuket, in Rawai, Mai Khao, Sapam and Rassada.
Their reluctance to be assimilated into mainstream Thai society has led to them being branded as “homeless, jobless and stateless”.
After the Asian Tsunami hit Phuket in 2004, smashing many Sea Gypsy villages, their problems were compounded as various individuals took the opportunity to assert their ownership of land the Sea Gypsies had occupied for some 200 years – but without ever registering as their own.
In addition, environmental protection laws and regulations limited the places where they might live. As a result, many found themselves living in places designated as “public land”, and were forced to leave.
Looking for new sites for Sea Gypsy communities has been made more difficult because of the high value of land in Phuket.
“An important requirement of their home is that the land be next to the sea,” said Phuket historian Prof Sommai Pinbudsin, however he added, “such land is also seen as ideal for tourism business.”
Prof Sommai believes the current problems of homeless Sea Gypsies stems from official attitudes and bias against the Sea Gypsies, with solutions purposed by various parties not often taking into account the opinions of the Sea Gypsies themselves.
In addition, the Sea Gypsies, originally a nomadic people, don’t acknowledge the legal processes to acquire land ownership.
“I think their culture will disappear in the coming generations”, said Prof Sommai. “We are ‘helping’ them by trying to define their identity. We don’t allow them to define their identity themselves.”
An indication of Thai official attitudes to the Sea Gypsies is the nomenclature used to identify them; they are referred to in Thai as Chao Ley (sea people) or Thai Mai (new Thais – despite the fact that they probably arrived in Phuket a long time before the Thais did).
The Sea Gypsies refer to themselves by none of these names, calling themselves Moken.
Only one representative of the Sea Gypsies was present at the meeting. When she spoke – in Moken - it seemed that no one understood a word she was saying.