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From www.kolantamagazine.com CURRENT NEWS
“Is this a ghost town?” I asked my friend who was putting me up for the night. “You best get to bed”, she answered with a nice Thai smile. “You have a very early morning.” Indeed I did. The break of dawn brought the streets alive with the wakening sounds, pungent smells and vibrant colors of an active Thai fishing community. It was Monday morning, market day in Lanta Old Town, and some 200 people from the village moved towards their most important social event of the week at the foot of the pier. Arriving at the sea side market it quickly became apparent the people of this village were as diverse as the wares and cuisine offered. Muslim ladies shrouded in black served up khanom jin (thin noodles topped with mild fish curie sauce) along side ancient Chinese medical cures and fresh seafood caught by sun-darkened sea gypsies. I suddenly understood why so much attention is being paid to this seemly typical Thai village where a recently launched United Nations Development Fund (UNDF) program will help with the preservation of Lanta Old Town’s cultural history. Just as I did, the UNDP discovered (after they came to the island to help with the tsunami relief effort), that in today’s world, where tolerance towards cultural differences is becoming increasing complex, Lanta Old Town could easily serve as a model society where differences are showcased as a natural way of life. Si Raya (the official name of the village) is a study in cultural diversity with three distinct groups of people – the seas gypsy people of the Urak Lawoi clan, Thai Muslims and Thai Chinese – coexisting in harmony for over 200 years. In fact, as dissimilar these cultures are, they have worked as business partner’s side by side and have commonly cross-married into each others inter-societies. “There are instances of my family, who emigrated from China six generations ago, marrying indigenous Urak Lawoi” says Vinai Ukris, local historian and owner of nearby Bu Bu Island. “The people of Old Town consider each other Thai people first and our individual ethnic history second.” Vinai is working closely with the UNDP to record historical events, collect oral histories and document indigenous knowledge for a community-managed museum that will also serve as a cultural center and community meeting hall. The collection of historical information hasn’t been easy. The exact details of how and when each of these cultural groups came to Lanta Old Town aren’t completely clear. What is known is the first dwellers on the island were the indigenous Chao Lay or Sea People who started coming here 500 years ago. The Urak Lawoi living in Ban Sangkha-U (their main village 5 kilometers outside of Lanta Old Town) are one of three groups of Chao Lay, which also include the Moken and Moklen clans, who have roamed the waterways in the Southeast Asia for centuries. The sea gypsy elders suggest the Urak Lawoi originated from Banda Aceh, Indonesia and journeyed through the Gunung Jeri, Kedah Peak on the coast of Lawoi Kedah, north of Penang in the Saiburi State of Malaysia, and then eventually onto Ko Lanta. The Muslim communities of Lanta (Siam Malayu) – which make up around 90% of the island’s overall population – were next arriving some 300 years ago, primarily as fishermen coming up the Andaman coast from Malaysia and Indonesia or journeying across the upper Malay Peninsula from Nakhon Si Thammarat Province on the Gulf of Thailand coast. Today Muslim people live and run businesses in Lanta Old next door to Chinese merchants who both serve a predominately Muslim clientele from Islam communities surrounding the village. Chinese tin workers, merchants and fishermen landed in Lanta Old Town during China’s Cultural Revolution about 200 years ago when the masses were fleeing in search of new opportunities in neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. At that time, as well as today, Chinese families make up the largest population group of Lanta Old Town and were instrumental in developing merchant trade for the island with their relatives in other Asian ports. When the village was officially register 150 years ago as a Thai town, it was a thriving center for business and government for the island, as well as, a busy sea port where large junk ships registered with Thai Customs when entering into Thailand waters from ports in Malaysia, Singapore and China. Goods traded from these ports, often traveling between Penang, Malaysia and Phuket, included tin, charcoal, and dried fish and eventually western goods that came via the British-occupied trading port in Penang. Lanta Old Town’s status as the major harbor and business capital of the island changed 50 years ago when roads and automobiles linked the island to the mainland on the other side of the island. Also, at the time the advent of gas-fueled cooking in South East Asia depleted the demand for charcoal and drastically reduced the number of large trading ship coming to the harbor. Today tourism, along with fishing, is the main source of income for locals. Many of the Lanta Town residents own and operate resorts and businesses located on opposite side of the island where the tourist beaches are located. Until recently tourism has had little impact on the sleepy old town although several foreigners have lived in the village for many years. “We’ve also been accepted into their community without any problems”, says Eugene Doberer, a long-time resident in Lanta Old Town. “I guess it’s just their way here.” Lanta Old Town has asome unique resorts, restaurants and tour companies. Call 075-697-181 for free shuttle service to Old Town and visit www.lantaoldtown.com © Copyright by kolantamagazine.com |
