Community group helps pay off Phuket sea gypsy loans

RAWAI, PHUKET: Threats of beatings and electrocution by loan sharks have abated for scores of Moken sea gypsies since a Phuket-based community organization stepped in to help.

The ‘Poor’s Right to Develop Phuket Network’ (PRDPN) paid off debts worth more than half a million baht for 162 Rawai sea gypsies earlier this month.

Nevertheless, hundreds of residents of the sea gypsy village near Rawai Beach remain in debt and living in fear of punishment.

The loan sharks, themselves residents of the village, charge interest of up to 60 percent for loans over periods as short as 15 days.

The creditors threatened those who couldn’t pay with a punishment they called ‘2-7-2’: two kicks, seven punches and two electric shocks.

Villagers said they were forced to take out loans because on many days during the monsoon season they couldn’t go fishing, which is their usual source of income.

Sucheep Janrung, 60, said the PRDPN had repaid thousands of baht of her debts, but she still owed 3,000 baht and lived in fear of punishment.

She said she had seen people who couldn’t pay being taken away and beaten.

“One lady who sold somtam for a living came to live in the village and ended up 50,000 baht in debt,” she said.

“Some men tricked her into going to Saphan Hin with them. When she came back, she was covered in bruises.”

Mrs Sucheep said she wasn’t aware of anyone being electrocuted but feared it would happen to her if she couldn’t pay.

“Even if I die, the debt will move onto my family and they’ll have to pay,” she said.

Chalong Police in early June arrested six members of a gang who entered the same Community to collect on loans, confiscating a list of 35 debtors and 11,000 baht in cash.

Police estimate there are over 40 loan shark gangs operating on the island. – Atchaa Khamlo

Gov promises action on sea gypsy issues

PHUKET: Phuket Governor Wichai Phraisa-ngop has promised to investigate and clear up issues faced by the impoverished sea gypsy community in Rawai.

The announcement came following a protest at Phuket Provincial Hall on April 7 by members of the ‘30 Communities Network’ who demanded the Governor take swift action to solve disputes over land ownership and issues over access to utilities.

About 300 sea gypsy families who currently occupy 200 rai of beachfront land in Rawai claim the right to occupy the area, saying the community has been established there for several generations.
However, a number of other people have come forward claiming ownership of different sections of the land around Rawai Pier.

The boundaries between private and state land in the area are yet to be clearly delineated.

As head of a newly-established committee on issues facing sea gypsy communities, Governor Wichai is scheduled to meet with provincial and municipal officers on April 21 in order to come up with solutions for the issue of access to electricity and water supply.

Those solutions will be announced soon after the April 21 meeting, it was reported.

Culture Minister vows to help sea gypsies

PHUKET: The government has set up a national-level committee aimed at resolving land rights issues and other problems affecting Moken and other sea gypsy communities in the Andaman Coast region.

Minister of Culture Teera Slukpetch on Friday afternoon visited five sea gypsy villages: the Moken villages of Ban Lam Lah and Ban Hin Look Diaw in Mai Khao; the sea gypsy village on Koh Sireh in tambon Rassada; and the two sea gypsy villages in Rawai.

At all five villages land rights issues were among the problems raised, along with poverty and a loss of traditional culture and way of life.

In some cases, youths in the communities no longer know how to fish or speak the language of their ancestors, Mr Teera was told.

Despite some of the communities having been established over 100 years ago, most sea gypsies do not have title deeds to the land they inhabit.

In some cases the land is state property, but in other cases, most notably in Rawai, the land is claimed by private sector landholders with title deeds who want to evict them.

“The government has set up the national committee and appointed me as chairman. This committee will resolve the problems of sea gypsy and Moken communities in Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi and Ranong,” Mr Teera promised.

The government would be flexible in finding ways to resolve land rights issues on a case-by-case basis.

Communities inhabiting state land will be allowed to remain there, he said.

In cases where other parties claimed the land and had title deeds to prove it, the committee would conduct a study to see if the title deed was issued before or after the community was established.

A provincial committee on sea gypsy issues will also be set up in each province with the provincial governor chairing the panel, he added.

The Culture Ministry will also build “culture centers” in each village to help preserve their way of life and educate future generations. Phuket is set to receive 10.2 million baht to set up five centers in fiscal 2010.

These centers will be promoted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand as a way of generating extra revenue for the communities.

Many other countries use local culture, including that of indigenous tribes, to promote tourism, he said.

The government is committed to establishing sustainable tourism that will benefit all sides, he added.

Sea gypsies is a general term used in English to refer to people commonly called chao ley (“sea people”) by Thais, though the government typically refers to them as khon thai mai (“new Thai people”) as part of its efforts to integrate them into mainstream Thai society.

Some sea gypsies in Phuket are part of the Moken (or Morgan) tribe of seafaring people, while others belong to the Ourak Lawoy tribe.