The Rawai Sea Gypsies have lived – uncontested – at their current beachfront location for at least three generation and probably much more.
It would appear that most of the problems for the Sea Gypsies and other poor minority groups, began following the 2004 Tsunami. Maybe unscrupulous business people along with corrupt land officials taking advantage of the Tsunami’s ensuing chaos.
They have already lost a large portion of their land east of the village, (edged in yellow in map below) to a businessman who claimed ownership of the land. Having taken the land from the Sea Gypsies, he is now the proud owner of a derelict, unfinished, unoccupied building, whilst the Sea Gypsies are forced into an ever decreasing area to live, amounting to just 5% of the land they once occupied.
To make matters worse, the businessman claiming ownership of the land, (marked in yellow) is in debt to his bank, using the land and unfinished buildings as collateral. The bank now has possession of the title deeds and has put the land and buildings up for sale.
The Rawai Sea Gypsies are not the only ones on Phuket fighting for their land.
Latest reports from our local newspapers show………
Some 2,000 families on Soi Kingkaew, in Rassada, were recently confronted with a similar threat to that of the Rawai Sea Gypsies.
Two other communities with PMOVE ( Peoples Movement ) membership fighting similar battles on the island include the "Community Behind Rama IX Park" in Phuket Town and the "Khok Tanode Community" in Chalong.
And just recently……
23 Villagers of Koh Racha Yai, Who have lived and worked on the island for generations, want to know why their request for land deeds was denied when similar requests on Koh Racha Yai, made by outside investors, were granted.
At the end of the day it would appear that it all comes down to what happens behind these gates:
( house of Shame )
In 2003, Pongtorn Hiranyaburana, the Deputy Chief of the Phuket Provincial Land Titles Office, who was in the process of investigating the issuing of illegal land titles, was shot dead as he drove home from Phuket to Surat Thani.
His murderers were never found.
Recently, The National Anti-Corruption Commission has been asked to investigate the alleged involvement of a former Phuket Deputy Governor and a former Interior Permanent Secretary over unlawful land acquisitions on the island. Over 200 plots of land are currently being investigated.
Major General Dusadee Arayawuthi who is leading the investigation says he and his staff have been threatened several times since they began their enquiries.
The investigation of course revolves around Phuket Land Office and will no doubt move to higher departments if the enquiry is allowed to continue.
In March 2012, the Chief of the Land Office declared that he ‘welcomed the investigations, as a deterrent against future abuses’.
‘future abuses’ is little consolation for those affected by past corruption.
Are these poor people just victims of high ranking crooks and criminals, through
deception and corruption within Government Offices?
Surely, it isn’t too much to ask, that those involved in wrong doings are held responsible.
For the Sea Gypsies of Rawai, a full investigation should take place on all land east of Rawai Pier, with particular reference to land title deeds issued in 1970 and 1971.
The Sea Gypsies of Rawai, number over 2000 residents and are just a part of the 10,000 Sea Gypsies estimated to be living in Phuket and around the Andaman Sea.
Their human rights have been ignored for long enough.
Does Thailand, soon to entering the Asean Treaty, wish to be
compared with Myanmar in their treatment of human rights?
There are so many positives could come from the Sea Gypsy issue:
The Government could be seen to be helping them by ensuring they have Government water, individual electricity supply and adequate drainage and sewage facilities.
The ‘questionable’ land, east of the village, should be returned to the Sea Gypsies.
The land currently occupied by the Sea Gypsies along with the ‘questionable’ land, should be allocated officially as Sea Gypsy land under the Community Chanote scheme, created under the former Democrat government of Abhisit Vejjajiva. It allows communities to live on the land and use it for agriculture, but does not allow the land to be sold.
The trades and handicrafts of the Sea Gypsies should be encouraged, as it is a unique heritage and in danger of disappearing.
The entire area could be proposed as a UNESCO heritage site, under sections,
(iii) to bear a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared.
(vi) to be an outstanding example of a traditional human settlement, land-use, or sea-use which is representative of a culture (or cultures), or human interaction with the environment especially when it has become vulnerable under the impact of irreversible change.
Post Script: For whatever misdemeanors have taken place in the past, there is an opportunity here for the Government to resolve the situation, by re-claiming the waterfront land (edged in yellow) and returning it, along with their present domicile to the Sea Gypsy Community, (under the Community Chanote Scheme) declaring the entire gypsy land for sea gypsy use in pursuance of their unique way of life.
We appeal to our Government, our Land Officials and to our friends in Thailand and beyond to give a thought to and help the Sea Gypsies (Moken), before it’s too late.
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