The Urak Lawoi

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Chao Lay (or Sea People) is a group of people living in southern Thailand around the islands and coastal areas of the AndamanSea. Their villages can be found in Phang-nga, Phuket, Krabi and Satun. The Urak Lawoi has their own language and traditions. Because of their small numbers and dispersed settlements, the Urak Lawoi often escape the attention of outsiders especially the Thai authority (Pratuang Krauhong, 1998: 2).

The Urak Lawoi is generally called Chao Lay, Cho Nam, and Thai Mai (New Thai). However, they do not want to be called Chao Nam, because it is a derogatory term as they consider Nam to imply semen (Chantas Thongchuay, 1985). Nowadays, the Urak Lawoi prefered to be called Thai Mai which connotes that they are an integral part of the Thai state.

The Legend of the Urak Lawoi

David Hogan (1972: 128-129) recorded a legend told by a 60-70 year-old Urak Lawoi on the Adang island that long time ago, God sent Nabeeno to persuaded Urak Lawoi ancestors to give reverence to God. The Urak Lawoi ancestors refused to do so, and God gave them a curse so they moved to Gunung Jerai. Some Urak Lawoi went into the forest and became wildmen, monkeys, and squirrels; some became sea nomads and lived on boats called Jukok. Gunung Jerai remains a sacred place for the Urak Lawoi as they believed that their ancestors used to settle there. The Urak Lawoi organizes a boat

ceremony twice a year, and toward the end of the ceremony, a model boat is sailed away believing to head for this previous settlement around Gunung Jerai area.

The Urak Lawoi in Sangka-u Village, Lanta island, Krabi province There are 81 households, 93 families, 358 people in the village of Sangka-u on Lanta islands. There is also an elementary school and a joss house for worship. The people believe that worshopping the joss house can protect them from harm. There is one public house for community activities such as making a model boat for boat-floating ceremony, etc. Most people in the village are relatives. The bamboo-houses with galvanized iron or tiles roof are located very close to one another and there are no fences. The size of the house is around 3x4 meters. When the members of family increase, they will lengthen the house outward in the direction of the sea. Inland houses are built on small hills, but the front of the houses is seaward. These houses are built on 1-meter pillars. Ducks and chicken are raised under the houses. Most of these houses have balcony which serves as a living room for different activities, ranging from repairing fish-net to chatting with neighbors.

Inside the house

The Urak Lawoi houses have wide space for resting, eating, and watching television. The bedroom zone is separated by curtain or closet. Many households have electrical equipment such as televisions, radios and fasn. Ten families in the village have the refrigerators and 53 families (from 81 families) have television. The Urak Lawoi in Sangka-u use charcoal or gas stove for cooking.

Building a House

Normally the Urak Lawoi builds their house through cooperative labor. There are 2-3 heading people with support from the relatives and neighbors. The house owner pays back the helpers by providing them lunch. In terms of house materials, poor families use bamboo and galvanized iron roof while rich families use cement and tiles roof.

Social, Economic and Cultural

Aspects The daily lives of the Urak Lawoi are simple. In the morning, the men go out fishing while the women do the housework and wait for their husband to come back around noon. Fish catch is both for family’s meals and for selling to the Tao Kae (the entrepreneurs). In the afternoon, Urak Lawoi women rest while the men fix fishing tools. Kids usually play around the community. Teenagers often go to their friends’ houses, chatting or listening to the radio. Urak Lawoi subsistence lifestyle is now changing. Most of them now need to work for wages to get more money. Therefore, in the daytime, only the elders and kids stay home. The rest go out for work.

Food

Besides seafood, rice is the main staple for the Urak Lawoi. Normally, they eat rice with several dishes like Southern Thai food. Coconut is the crucial ingredient for making various dishes and desserts. For vegetables, they eat local vegetables or buy some from grocery stores in the community. The Urak Lawoi usually eats whenever they are hungry, so there is no set meal at a certain time. Normally, they have 2 meals per day, in the morning and evening. Factory-made snacks and instant noodle become a popular food after the integration to commercial economy.

Education

Aporn Ukrit (1992) studied about Chao Lay education and stated that the infants and children are raised by the adults until 5-6 years old. Then, the boys can join their father’s trip to the sea while the girls help their mother doing housework. When they become teenagers, they will get married and make their own families. In the past, the Urak Lawoi parents spoke Urak Lawoi language to their kids. Presently, they use both traditional language and Thai language in order to prepare the kids to get into Thai school which use Thai as main language. It is quite easy for the kids to learn Thai because they watch Thai television.

Medical Care

In the earlier days, the Urak Lawoi believed that the cause of sickness came from spirits. They had local doctor (To Maw) who cured the sickness by incantation or using holy water. To Maw is the spirit medium, communicating between the Urak Lawoi and the spirits. To Maw are chosen by the elderly traditional To Mo to learn about spiritual curing. At present, the Urak Lawoi often goes to the hospital when they are sick. Sometimes they buy drugs from grocery stores. If they do not get better, they will go to the hospital.

Occupation

Normally, people earn their livelihood by traditional fisheries. In the past, the Urak Lawoi caught the fish by simple tools for household consumption. At present, they need to adopt market economy in order to survive. There are 57 households which have motor boats. Many Urak Lawoi prefer working for a Tho Kae to being independent fishers because of convenience and security-related reasons. Working for a Tho Kae means reducing the responsibility of obtaining and maintaining the boats and fishing supplies. Allso, the Urak Lawoi grows coconuts, cashew nuts and some local vegetables on the hill for selling and consuming in the households. When tourism industry comes, some people go to work as unskilled labors to gain wage. From statistics, the average amount of money they earn per year is 36,000 baht.

Ceremonies

There are 2 important ceremonies in the community: 1. Paying respect and giving offerings to the female guardian of the boat. It is believed that doing so will prevent the boat crew from dangers at sea. 2. Boat- floating is the most important ceremony for the Urak Lawoi, held biannual in May and October in order to remove bad luck.

The Changing

Society The way of life of the Urak Lawoi gradually integrates into Thai culture. Their sufficient economy has turned to market economy which makes them dependent on outsiders. They need more money to satisfy themselves materially. By this reason, the people try to work harder; however, the wage is still inadequate for the expenditure.

Thank you Andaman Pilot Project.