Yesterday (November 15) 100 Sea Gypsies from the village, which is across the bay from the Westin Siray Bay Resort & Spa, chased off surveyors from the Phuket Land Office.
Laem Tuk Kae Sea Gypsy village, one of five Sea Gypsy communities in Phuket, consists of 500 to 600 homes on 15 rai of land. Almost 3,000 people live there.
Nikom Ukati, leader of the surveyors tried to explain that a private owner holds a legal NorSor 3 land deed covering 11.5 rai of the village and dating back to 1983.
The villagers, however, refused to believe this and sent the officers packing.
Thay came back later, accompanied by armed men from the Phuket Police Investigation Office, and convened a meeting with villagers.
“The businessman’s claim covers hundreds of houses,” said Preeda Kongpan, from the Committee for Sea Gypsy Problem Integrating Solution told The Phuket News after the meeting.
“In addition, we have just discovered that another part of the village has been ‘sold’: La Tho, which is a place for Sea Gypsy worship. It was sold to a private business for more than B10 million for five rai.”
She also revealed that not far way from the village, there is a Sea Gypsy graveyard which has also been claimed by a private business. The land has been fenced off and before any burial can take place the villagers have to beg for the gate to be opened.
She added that the “owner” allows only burials and will not open the gates for other ceremonies that would normally be carried out for the dead.
“Actually, some legal experts confirm that graveyards are public places, and it is impossible for such land to be registered for private ownership,” she said.
“The Leam Tukkae case will be sent to the Committee for Sea Gypsy Problem Integrating Solution and also to the departments concerned, asking them to throughly investigate these claims.”
Until very recently Koh Sireh was a backwater ignored by property developers who preferred to look for sites on the west coast of Phuket or further north on the east coast. Access to the island is through the scruffy area surrounding the fishing port.
However, with the construction of high-end private homes and then the Westin Siray Bay, land on Koh Sireh has become much more desirable, yet is still relatively cheap.