ICH Courier

It cannot be denied that indigenous peoples are the main actors who preserve the biodiversity not only of the forests but also the marine sphere. Their knowledge concerning nature and the universe helps raise public awareness and contributes to environmental sustainability. Thap Ta Wan, a community in Phang Nga province in the southern part of Thailand, is inhabited by the Moklen people, one of the indigenous sea nomad groups, known locally in Thai as Chao Lay. The people are known for their community-led initiative, YumJon, which aims to sustain Moklen livelihoods of the past in interacting with the sea, spirits, and ancestors. Here, their living heritage is used as a tool to help the younger generation and wider public to understand who they are.

Could you please tell me about your community’s initiative, YumJon, and how your community has been involved with it? In the past, some community members did not want youth to migrate to urban areas for job opportunities. We then came up with the idea of turning their everyday food—such as dried squid, seaweed, and fish—into products that would generate income. We started by preparing, processing, and selling marine ingredients to nearby indigenous communities or exchanging them for other products when we went to indigenous events. After receiving positive feedback on our products, we have been working with the young members of our community to develop the logo, packaging, and an online sales platform. Even though the young ones have their own responsibilities at work or school, they have a strong will to help out with this initiative to safeguard their knowledge concerning nature and live more sustainably.

What is the reason for establishing this initiative? 

This initiative was started to preserve marine life and local plants along the coastal areas of the Andaman Sea. Moklen people have been harmoniously living in these natural areas for more than 700 years. Until fifty years ago, we still had abundant rice fields and sea life, as well as coral reefs that were as tall as a house. However, after forestry and mining concessions and natural resource exploitation, we have lost many of our food sources and natural products, some of which is part of our sacred rituals. Knowing that we could not let this continue, we tried to adapt and empower ourselves by leveraging our living heritage by catching marine life and processing it to earn income. It began with an indigenous Chao Lay women’s group in the community who tried to overcome the societal bias of us being unhygienic. We have since turned our initiative into a registered local community fishery organization. What is the reason for establishing this initiative?  Our local practices for catching marine life are different from what the big fishing industries are doing. Moklen people practice what is referred to as “fish listening”—plunging a bamboo stick into the sea, so we can locate where and what types of sea creatures there are. We only catch bigger marine life. If they are small or play a significant role in our ocean’s biodiversity—e.g., the clownfish—we will not take them. This undeniably helps sustain our marine diversity. In our community, we have seventeen fishing tools that are recognized by the Department of Fisheries as not negatively affecting the environment. To link back to our initiative, we also contribute some of our profits back to the community areas by taking care of the beach and the sea. “If nature cannot survive, neither can Chao Lay. If Chao Lay cannot survive, neither can nature.” Much literature says so when describing our respect for nature. I want to emphasize that we do not go against nature. For example, in the rainy season, we cannot sail. Instead, we find other marine life in coastal areas to consume. As a result, we can produce an assortment of quality seasonal products at YumJon because we accept what nature provides. If we infringe on nature, we are destroying our own biodiversity, and we will be punished by the spirits of our ancestors and nature. Thus, we need to pay respect to the spirits before we sail, cut down trees, or collect local plants. Everything must be respected. What are the impacts of your initiative on society? Thanks to what we have been doing, the public is more aware of the development and usage of natural resources. This has inspired the younger generation to strengthen themselves, our community, and our culture through the use of local Moklen wisdom and resources, together with their knowledge of communication technology. I believe that youth have the capacity to present and continue our living heritage. According to Ruangnoon, a Moklen youth, “I am delighted to talk about our Moklen ways of life. It is not just about selling fish but also about maintaining our cultural identity.”