The "other side" of Thailand .... Sea Gypsy Village

Aod picked me up from the hotel one afternoon, on his day off from working at the hotel. Aod's wife, (I think her name was Poon or something similar .... Aod said I could just call her Pam :) ...... brought flowers to my room on my first day at Pimalai as a welcome from the housekeeping staff .... just a really sweet couple who both speak a little English .... the resort has classes in English for all employees once a week, whether you are a gardener, housekeeper, cook or waiter or chief bottle washer ...... Pimalai is one of the most amazing hotels I think I have ever stayed in. Small in number of rooms/villas, but large in gardens, pools, spa etc. The employees themselves are simply amazing! From the groundskeepers to the managers, everyone greeted me daily with that warm Thai greeting, hands in front in prayer format, "sawadee kaa or sawadee krup" .... female/male greeting. Just lovely ....... Now back to Aod ..... I had arranged to have him give me a tour of Koh Lanta Yai ..... it is as beautiful as a Thai island gets ..... postcard picturesque! ..... jungle greenery everywhere, interspersed with small villages, mostly made up of a diverse cultural mix of Muslim/Thai, Chinese/Thai and a handful of Sea Gypsies, all living in harmony together as they have been doing for hundreds if not thousands of years. On the way to Ban San-ka-u, the sea gypsy settlement, where an old clan of traditional Chao Ley people try to preserve a disappearing way of life in this fast developing island of Koh Lanta Yai, we crossed a rather rickety bridge that caused some concerns for me at least! Seems to me it is made for tiny Thai folk! Aod laughed at my concerns and said he (all of 125 pounds of him) would go first to test it out!! Ha! ..... But oh my, to say the scene in the village shocked me is an understatement. I was ill prepared for what lay ahead and rendered speechless ....... hesitant to ask if I could take pictures .... feeling exploitive. Aod assured me the village was quite accustomed to having tourists walk through .... (does that somehow make it ok???) and must say, most seemed to welcome me, despite what I felt was an intrusion into their lives. I had no idea that behind the bridge, I would be stepping into the middle of people's lives. Somehow, I had imagined we would be walking through streets, gradually locating the older villages ..... the problem with preconceptions! .... nope, straight into their lives we walked! I kept my picture taking to a bare minimum and chose to visit with the villagers instead. The young mothers showed me their babies, the children laughed as they played, eyeing me shyly ...... a normal village life, but to my Western eyes, the conditions astounded me! They live in homes, seemingly stapled together with old roofing material, bamboo, metal plates, actually whatever can possibly be gathered together.... I cannot imagine any of their homes holding fast through a monsoon. The homes are built on stilts, living at the edge of the sea as they do, with tides, coming and going daily. The tide was out, so we were able to make our way through the wet sludge ..... sadly garbage is strewn here and there and I never did see an outhouse anywhere. Possibly something was set up behind the homes ..... The "kitchens" are at the front, a slab of tin serving as a roof. All manner of pots, pans, grills, wash buckets, piled around the walls ..... I did see those large ten gallon clean water containers in most homes. Fish seems to be the food of the day ..... I also saw some drying on a slab in front of a home .... not quite sure what was going on with that fish .... perhaps it will be smoked later? As we were leaving, two fishermen came in from their morning out at sea, carrying two buckets full of squid, each hanging at one end of a thick pole. We followed them up the rickety bridge, towards Ban Sala Dan Village, a half km. or so away and where we had parked Aod's truck. The squid were still alive ..... they will sell them to the restaurants in town. The proceeds will probably keep the village going financially for a few days.

The ladies in particular were quite friendly and kind to me, as I walked along, stopping to share a bit of myself as best I could. I was humbled ... is it my destiny, to view ancient civilizations at this often sad point in their evolution? The Sea Gypsies were the early inhabitants of Southern Thailand, from possibly as many as thousands of years ago. They fished, they ate, they loved, they raised families, enjoyed the benefits of a beautiful part of the world, lush green jungles, abundant fruit, clean ocean air, a seemingly endless ocean of so many shades of blue and green ...... Koh Lanta Yai has everything we tourists now actively seek out, in the never-ending quest to find those little pockets of undeveloped paradise, whether in Thailand or elsewhere ..... .... we are insatiable that way, we tourists who trod, often so heavily on other lands ..... to explore and discover nature before tourism takes a hold .... the irony of it all!. Tourism, the double-edged sword! As I ponder the simplicity of the lives of the Sea Gypsies, where fishing is their livelihood ............. I might do well to pay attention to a Buddhist quote: "When wishes are few, the heart is happy, When desire ends, there is peace" .... Buddha

Old Lanta Town .... a primarily Chinese/Thai town

A "salens" ... or by another name, moto-side car

This gent was not too happy to see us ..... :(

These ladies however, were very friendly and kind :)


















The colourful longtail boats used by the village fishermen

Aod inspecting the bridge for me :)