DOCSLIB.ORG

Recent Mani Settlements in Satun Province, Southern Thailand

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Recent Mani Settlements in Satun Province, Southern Thailand RECENT MANI SETTLEMENTS IN SATUN PROVINCE, SOUTHERN THAILAND Gerd Albrecht* and Johannes Moser** Abstract The Mani people are hunter-gatherers living in the western part of peninsular Thailand, north of the Malaysian border. During field campaigns in 1995 and 1996 the occupation of ten rock shelters and nine forest camps were recorded. All these belong to the present-day system of up to one hundred different living sites, inhabited by Mani groups during one year in the forested region of Trang, Satun and Phatthalung Provinces. Most of the camps studied could be assigned to a specific Mani group, and it was even possible to tell individual housing habits apart. Beside documentation of the camps, the authors were able to construct kinship structures for 179 persons, belonging to six generations for the Mani. In addition, four prehistoric sites, related to the Hoabinhian and/ or the Neolithic, were discovered. Research on the Manil Bernatzik (1962). Significant information on Mani life has recently published by Suwat The Mani are the northernmost group of the Thonghom (1995) with the help of the Trang Semang, or Orang Asli, of the forest areas of provincial authorities. These publications are the Thai-Malaysian Peninsula. The dense, and the main source of data on the Mani groups of previously well preserved, forests of Trang, southern Thailand. Satun and Phatthalung provinces were, and Today, the Mani number just over 140 indeed still are, the home for hunter-gatherer individuals, nearly the same number as 60 years groups of the Mani (mani, meaning 'we people', ago, as recorded by Bernatzik. They live in a is the term they use to name themselves, as virtually inaccessible area of large limestone opposed to hami, meaning 'the others' used for karst outcrops, comprising steep cliffs, narrow Thai and other communities). Until the start of valleys, and small basins. These unapproachable intensive logging which began only twelve years land formations are one of the reasons that the ago Mani life was relatively unaffected by Mani have been able to sustain their traditional outside communities. forest lifestyle, despite the presence of large The first written record of the Mani is found farming communities in the vicinity. in the writings of King Rama V, who visited Numerous caves and rock shelters in the them in 1907. In the 1920s, the renowned karst towers serve as habitation sites for the Austrian ethnologist, Paul Schebesta, whose Mani groups. As sedimentary traps, the caves main scientific work was on the Semang of Malaya (Schebesta 1952,1954 & 1957), met a • Faculty of Archaeology, Royal University of Fine small band of Mani in Phatthalung Province Arts, Phnom Penh, Cambodia (Schebesta 1925). The Mani of Satun Province •• Institut flir Ur- und Frtihgeschichte, Universitiit were also visited by the ethnologist Hugo Tiibingen, Germany. Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 161 Gerd Albrecht and Johannes Moser have accumulated substantial soil deposits, plantations. Those who have money are containing the remains of sub-recent beginning to learn about consumer society and settlements and prehistoric occupation. The becoming dependant upon wages and the goods first excavations at Sakai Cave, Trang they provide. Province in 1991 (Figure 1, site 21) exposed For ethnographic research, there is but hunter-gatherer occupation as far back as limited time to record data on Mani society 10,000 BP, as well as neolithic burials before it loses all recognizable connection with (Pookajorn 1991; Albrecht et al. 1994). its ancient lifestyle. It is recognition of this time constraint, that the Tiibingen/Bangkok joint The Mani today venture was initiated immediately following the establishment of co-operation between the Mani society is undergoing radical change from universities ofTiibingen and Silpakorn. In 1993 ever-increasing contact with the Thai population initial research was conducted in Trang province over the last ten years. Since the disappearance and then in Satun province. This field work of the guerrilla groups of the 1970s-80s, the determined that the most promising area, that traditional settlement area of the Mani has been least disturbed, was located at the convergence heavily disturbed by the intensification of of three provinces: Trang, Satun and logging and rubber plantations making greater Phatthalung. Research indicated that further contact with outside groups inevitable. investigations would be most profitably Development in the upper Langu River region concentrated in this area. ran relatively smoothly up to the early 1990s. In 1993, the Bueng group of Mani were relatively The fieldwork2 undisturbed, living a typical forest lifestyle. Traditional camps and indigenous tools were Following earlier ethno-archaeological still in use; contacts with farmers were restricted fieldwork in the mountain area of Trang province to work as labourers on the winter rice harvest. (Pookajorn 1991; Albrecht et al. 1994) and in Although proclaimed as a Thai National the upper Langu River Area in Satun Province Park, there appears to be no halting the (Albrecht 1994), field campaigns were carried progressive destruction of the rain forest in this out in the forest of northeastern Satun province, region because of powerful economical from 23rd February to 22nd March 1995, and interests. Nutrition has recently become a major from the 27th January to 8th February 1996. problem; with the forest and its wildlife which These latest investigations centred on the had sustained them disappearing, the Mani are occupied and recently abandoned camps of the forced to spend more time working in the fields, Mani (Sakai) in this region. or living from public welfare such as at Nam Seven occupied rock shelters and six forest Tok Mae Taeng near the Phatthalung dam. camps were carefully recorded and mapped. Although there is still wild honey to be found, Several other living ~as in rock shelters and in the Mani, excepting the L6 group in the the forest were also noted and sketched. All southeast of Satun Province, are obliged to sell these occupations are part of a system of up to it cheaply to farmers rather than using it as a one hundred different living sites currently nutritional supplement. inhabited by Mani groups during a single year From February 1995, and even more in 1996, spread through the forested region of Trang, significant changes were observed. The former Satun and Phatthalung provinces (Figure 1). large band had split into several smaller units, Most of the camps studied could be assigned to whose leadership had been taken over by men, a specific Mani group. the presence of a male leader being more Since detailed topographical maps were not acceptable to Thai society. In a few years, there available orientation and mapping in this rugged will be no space left for these forest dwellers. wilderness was made possible by the use of the The Mani are being forced to change their global positioning system3• The co-ordinates traditional way of life, and are beginning to noted after the site names are given regardless work as labourers on the local farms and of their divergence from existing maps. 162 Journal of the Siam Society, Vol. 86, Parts 1 & 2 ~ 1:: I Key to numbered sites 3 ~ ~ I I 1 La Yuang Pueng s. ·j 2 Tam Jet Kot I C'.!"' A\. c-..mi'OCblwher--- 3 Tam Jet Kot II s· Ao.. ~alellloCIM :3 ... ....,._ 4 Tam Na Daeng ~ ~ "'~ ~ 5 'Kwaan' forest camp - .... ;:s 1;;• -- "' 6 Tam 'Sap' .. 9 ~ < 7 Kai KiMa =:!. ?!- 8 Tong Nong Nien 00 "' 9' 9 Tam Nong Nien "'~ '"C 10 KaoNam Ta :3 ~ ;:s "'..... 11 TamHoi "'o:.' ;;;· !<? 12 Tam Yao N ~ 13 Tam Koop (sediment ~ trap) ;:s "tl 14 Qu'ham Mo Biyae C:l <: 15 La Dschaem ;;;· ~ 16 La Sawaang ~ ~ 17 Tam Kleo I 1:: 18 PaPon s. 19 Nam Tok Mae Taeng 3"' ~ 20 Kuan Din Dam ~ 21 Sakai Cave s:;:s 1:).. ...... Figure 1 Map of research area 0'1 ~ Gerd Albrecht and Johannes Moser LEGEND ® BAMBOO TWEEZERS ® DART CONTAINER AND/OR BLOWPIPE ® ENAMEL BOWL @ BAMBOO WATER CONTAINER © TIED UP BUNDLE ® OTHER REMAINS @ REMAINS OF BLOWPIPE AND/OR DART FABRICATION ® CLOTH RAG ® ANIMAL BONE REMAINS FIRE PLACE FOR COOKING I WARMING @ WOVEN BASKET •5 UNIT No. ® HUMAN HAIR COOKING STANDS FOR BAMBOO TUBES ® KNIFE OR PART OF IT ~ BAMBOO SLEEPING PLATFORM (Q METAWC SPOON c~~:) PROJECTION OF PALM LEAVES SHELTER ® BAMBOO MUG @ft LAYERS OF DRY LEAVES ® HONEYCOMB ... ," .......! ROCK OVERHANGING @ COCONUT BOWL Ill SHELTER OF PALM LEAVES ® AWL ROCKPAINTINGS/WOODENGRA~NGS ® SHELLS AND/OR SNAILS 1110* ENTRANCE OF SHELTER, MAX. HEIGHT ® BAMBOO COOKING TUBE ~ TREE ® BAMBOO CONTAINER t!lf1J'fo- UMESTONE ROCK I STALACTITE Figure 2 Key for following plans of rock shelter and forest camp sites In the following text, only camps of known given by Kleo Boonrung, a local farmer, who Mani groups are described. When possible, the employed this Mani group during the rice harvest. names of the inhabitants of each camp are given, The site was occupied from late 1993 to early together with the number allotted to them in the 1994. Nine groups of sleeping platforms were Mani genealogy in Tables 1 and 2. identified at the entrance of the cave. These groups only approximate to family units. The sites Unit 3 could be recognized as the place of the old woman Bueng (3l. Until1994, she was the La Yuan Pueng-07° 04' 50" N; 99° 56' 11'' kepala, the head of this entire group (Schebesta E, (Figure 1, Site 1) 1925: 24 ). After 1994 the group split into smaller This rock shelter was first examined in 1994, units. Bueng's platform is the only full length has been published (Albrecht 1994) and is listed one. All other sleeping platforms served only for here to complete the information. The most the upper parts of the body, with a layer ofleaves recent occupation of this site was from late lower down, as preserved in units 2 and 8.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Monitoring of Mangroves in Trang Province, South of Thailand by Using Multi-Temporal LANDSAT-5 TM, SPOT-5 and ALOS Data
    Monitoring of Mangroves in Trang Province, South of Thailand by Using Multi-temporal LANDSAT-5 TM, SPOT-5 and ALOS Data Chittima Raksa(1), Thanakorn Sanguantrakool (2), Ramphing Simking (2) (1) Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Public Organization) 196 Phahonyothin Road, Chatuchak, Bangkok, Thailand 10900, Phone +66 2940 6420-9 ext. 221, 222 Fax +66 2561 4830 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Abstract In Thailand mangrove forests are found in 23 provinces Keywords: Mangrove monitoring; Multi-temporal; bands of the coastline. Some 36% of the entire coast of combination Thailand is cover with up to 1,920 sq. km. of mangrove forests. Almost 50% of these are in the province of 1. INTRODUCTION Phang-nga, Satun, Trang, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Ranong. It was found that 168,000 hectares of mangrove Mangrove forest is one of the most important coastal forests areas existed in 1996 and more than 55% of ecosystems. Since the last 40 years, a number of mangrove forests which cover an area of 200,100 mangrove forest areas have been destroyed mainly by hectares were lost during 1961-1996. The major human activities. In Thailand, mangrove forest area was activities that effected the reduction of mangrove forests seriously reduced from a total of 3,681 sq. km. in 1961 are included shrimp farming, tin-mining activities, to 1,680 sq. km in 1996. 30% total lost of mangrove mangrove over-exploitation, industrial area and new forests area in this period changed to shrimp farm settlements. (NESDB, 2000).
    [Show full text]
  • Title a Study of Living Conditions in Post-Tsunami Houses: the Case of the Moklen Ethnic Minority in Phang Nga Province, Souther
    A Study of Living Conditions in Post-Tsunami Houses: The Title Case of the Moklen Ethnic Minority in Phang Nga Province, Southern Thailand( Dissertation_全文 ) Author(s) Monsinee, Attavanich Citation 京都大学 Issue Date 2016-09-23 URL https://doi.org/10.14989/doctor.k20040 Right Type Thesis or Dissertation Textversion ETD Kyoto University A Study of Living Conditions in Post-Tsunami Houses: The Case of the Moklen Ethnic Minority in Phang Nga Province, Southern Thailand September 2016 Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies Kyoto University Doctoral Course in Environmental Management MONSINEE ATTAVANICH A Study of Living Conditions in Post-Tsunami Houses: The Case of the Moklen Ethnic Minority in Phang Nga Province, Southern Thailand A Thesis submitted for the fulfillment of the Doctor Degree of Global Environmental Management by MONSINEE ATTAVANICH Laboratory of Global Environmental Architecture Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies Kyoto University, Japan 2016 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to acknowledge and express my deep appreciation to organizations and people who support and encourage for the completion of this dissertation. Firstly, I would like to give my gratitude to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology of Japan and environmental management Leader Program of Kyoto University for providing scholarship to facilitate my study in the Graduate school of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University; Assoc.Prof. Kobayashi Hirohide, who is the advisor for every support not only for this research but for the future of work. Prof. Okazaki Kenji who is the co-advisor for support and giving not only useful comments but helpful suggestions to improve this research in other perspectives.
    [Show full text]
  • An Updated Checklist of Aquatic Plants of Myanmar and Thailand
    Biodiversity Data Journal 2: e1019 doi: 10.3897/BDJ.2.e1019 Taxonomic paper An updated checklist of aquatic plants of Myanmar and Thailand Yu Ito†, Anders S. Barfod‡ † University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand ‡ Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark Corresponding author: Yu Ito ([email protected]) Academic editor: Quentin Groom Received: 04 Nov 2013 | Accepted: 29 Dec 2013 | Published: 06 Jan 2014 Citation: Ito Y, Barfod A (2014) An updated checklist of aquatic plants of Myanmar and Thailand. Biodiversity Data Journal 2: e1019. doi: 10.3897/BDJ.2.e1019 Abstract The flora of Tropical Asia is among the richest in the world, yet the actual diversity is estimated to be much higher than previously reported. Myanmar and Thailand are adjacent countries that together occupy more than the half the area of continental Tropical Asia. This geographic area is diverse ecologically, ranging from cool-temperate to tropical climates, and includes from coast, rainforests and high mountain elevations. An updated checklist of aquatic plants, which includes 78 species in 44 genera from 24 families, are presented based on floristic works. This number includes seven species, that have never been listed in the previous floras and checklists. The species (excluding non-indigenous taxa) were categorized by five geographic groups with the exception of to reflect the rich diversity of the countries' floras. Keywords Aquatic plants, flora, Myanmar, Thailand © Ito Y, Barfod A. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ongoing Insurgency in Southern Thailand: Trends in Violence, Counterinsurgency Operations, and the Impact of National Politics by Zachary Abuza
    STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES 6 The Ongoing Insurgency in Southern Thailand: Trends in Violence, Counterinsurgency Operations, and the Impact of National Politics by Zachary Abuza Center for Strategic Research Institute for National Strategic Studies National Defense University Institute for National Strategic Studies National Defense University The Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) is National Defense University’s (NDU’s) dedicated research arm. INSS includes the Center for Strategic Research, Center for Technology and National Security Policy, Center for Complex Operations, and Center for Strategic Conferencing. The military and civilian analysts and staff who comprise INSS and its subcomponents execute their mission by conducting research and analysis, and publishing, and participating in conferences, policy support, and outreach. The mission of INSS is to conduct strategic studies for the Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Unified Combatant Commands in support of the academic programs at NDU and to perform outreach to other U.S. Government agencies and the broader national security community. Cover: Thai and U.S. Army Soldiers participate in Cobra Gold 2006, a combined annual joint training exercise involving the United States, Thailand, Japan, Singapore, and Indonesia. Photo by Efren Lopez, U.S. Air Force The Ongoing Insurgency in Southern Thailand: Trends in Violence, Counterinsurgency Operations, and the Impact of National Politics The Ongoing Insurgency in Southern Thailand: Trends in Violence, Counterinsurgency Operations, and the Impact of National Politics By Zachary Abuza Institute for National Strategic Studies Strategic Perspectives, No. 6 Series Editors: C. Nicholas Rostow and Phillip C. Saunders National Defense University Press Washington, D.C.
    [Show full text]
  • THAILAND Buddhist Minority Declines in the ‘Deep South’ Due to Protracted Armed Conflict
    15 November 2011 THAILAND Buddhist minority declines in the ‘deep south’ due to protracted armed conflict Since 2004, there has been a resurgence of violence in Thailand’s southern provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, where the government is facing the violent opposition of a number of Malay Muslim insurgency groups. Close to 5,000 people have been killed and nearly 8,000 injured. Buddhists, esti- mated to represent around 20 per cent of the total population of the three provinces in 2000, have been disproportionately affected by the violence; they account for nearly 40 per cent of all deaths and more than 60 per cent of all injured. Civilians from both communities are the main victims of the violence. As a result, many have since 2004 fled their homes and moved to safer areas. There are no reliable figures on the number of people displaced since 2004, but available information suggests that at least 30 per cent of Buddhists and ten per cent of Malay Muslims may have left their homes. While some have fled in direct response to the violence, many have moved because of the adverse effects of the conflict on the economy, on the availability and quality of education or on the provision of social services. Many of the displacements are also intended to be only temporary, and have split families, the head of household staying and the wife and children moving to safer areas. Buddhist civilians targeted by the insurgents because of their real or perceived association with the Thai state have fled their homes in large numbers, either seeking refuge in nearby urban areas or leaving the three provinces altogether.
    [Show full text]
  • Title Stranding Records of Dugong (Dugong Dugon) in Thailand Author
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Kyoto University Research Information Repository Title Stranding records of dugong (Dugong dugon) in Thailand ADULYANUKOSOL, KANJANA; PRASITTIPORNKUL, Author(s) CHAIYAPAT; MAN-ANANSAP, SOMCHAI; BOUKAEW, PANTARUK Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Citation SEASTAR2000 and Asian Bio-logging Science (The 8th SEASTAR2000 workshop) (2009): 51-57 Issue Date 2009-03 URL http://hdl.handle.net/2433/71021 Right Type Conference Paper Textversion publisher Kyoto University Stranding records of dugong (Dugong dugon) in Thailand 1 1 2 KANJANA ADULYANUKOSOL , CHAIYAPAT PRASITTIPORNKUL , SOMCHAI MAN-ANANSAP 1 AND PANTARUK BOUKAEW 1Phuket Marine Biological Center, P.O.Box 60, Phuket 83000, Thailand 2 Eastern Marine and Coastal Research Center, 237, Kram, Klaeng, Rayong 21190, Thailand Email : [email protected] ABSTRACT The information of stranded dugongs (Dugong dugon) has been recorded by the Phuket Marine Biological Center from the Andaman Sea coast and the Gulf of Thailand. The data were obtained from the records of fishermen, stranded dugongs, and specimens preserved in the museums, temples or institutions. Two hundred and eighty two records of stranded dugong were recovered from 1962 through February 2008. Of these 71.6% of the records were from the Andaman Sea, 25.8% of the records from the Gulf and 2.6% of the records had no information of the stranding place. Some 22.7% of the records were male, 22.3% female and 55.0 % of unidentified sex. The highest record of stranded dugong per year was in 1996 and the place where most stranding was found was in Trang province.
    [Show full text]
  • Man-Made Island Not Yet Clear for Launch
    Volume 14 Issue 21 News Desk - Tel: 076-236555 May 26 - June 1, 2007 Daily news at www.phuketgazette.net 25 Baht The Gazette is published Teenager dies in association with Man-made island not in night of yet clear for launch gang violence IN THIS ISSUE By Sompratch Saowakhon NEWS: Tsunami evacuation By Stephen Fein PHUKET CITY: One teenager drills set; Film Fest coming; died on May 20 after a night of Princess visits Phuket. PHUKET: Following reports that gang threats and retaliations Pages 2 & 3 a man-made island was set to be ended in a fatal shooting. The 17- built off the east coast of Phuket year-old victim, Kanchit “Phai” INSIDE STORY: Phi Phi ferry to accommodate a marina for Trupsin, was found at 3 am out- fire. Pages 4 & 5 super-yachts, the Marketing side Muslim Puenrak restaurant AROUND THE REGION: Rough Manager at Royal Phuket Ma- on Anuphas Phuket Kan Rd. weather emergency force. rina clarified that the project is Police were told the inci- Page 7 still in the early planning stages dent began when a passenger and faces many obstacles before riding pillion on a motorbike AROUND THE SOUTH: Security the island can rise from the sea. drove past a group of about 30 force budget request halved. RPM Marketing Director youths in Saphan Hin and pointed Page 8 Wilaiporn Titimanaaree told the a gun at them. Although he did AROUND THE NATION: Happi- Gazette that developer Gulu Lal- not fire the weapon, the group ness index down in the vani would hold a press confer- of 30 gave chase.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethnic Separatism in Southern Thailand: Kingdom Fraying at the Edge?
    1 ETHNIC SEPARATISM IN SOUTHERN THAILAND: KINGDOM FRAYING AT THE EDGE? Ian Storey Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies March 2007 The Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) is a regional study, conference and research center under the United States Department of Defense. The views in this paper are personal opinions of the author, and are not official positions of the U.S. government, the U.S. Pacific Command, or the APCSS. All APCSS publications are posted on the APCSS web site at www.apcss.org. Overview • Since January 2004 separatist violence in Thailand’s three Muslim-majority southern provinces has claimed the lives of nearly 1,900 people. • The root causes of this latest phase of separatist violence are a complex mix of history, ethnicity, and religion, fueled by socio-economic disparities, poor governance, and political grievances. Observers differ on the role of radical Islam in the south, though the general consensus is that transnational terrorist groups are not involved. • A clear picture of the insurgency is rendered difficult by the multiplicity of actors, and by the fact that none of the groups involved has articulated clear demands. What is apparent, however, is that the overall aim of the insurgents is the establishment of an independent Islamic state comprising the three provinces. • The heavy-handed and deeply flawed policies of the Thaksin government during 2004-2006 deepened the trust deficit between Malay-Muslims and the Thai authorities and fueled separatist sentiment. 2 • Post-coup, the Thai authorities have made resolving violence in the south a priority, and promised to improve governance and conduct a more effective counter-insurgency campaign.
    [Show full text]
  • NOTES and NEW DISTRIBUTIONAL INFORMATION on BIRDS in WESTERN PENINSULAR THAILAND Philip D
    NAT. HIST. BULL. SIAM SOC. 30 (1); 15-24, 1982. NOTES AND NEW DISTRIBUTIONAL INFORMATION ON BIRDS IN WESTERN PENINSULAR THAILAND Philip D. Round,* Robert J. Do bias,* Kamo/ Komolpha/in* and Surapon Duangkhae** ABSTRACT During visits made to five provinces in peninsular Thailand, 13-31 January 1979 and 8-20 August 1.981, a total of 100 new provincial bird distribution records was gained. This included some significant northward extensions to the known ranges of resident Malaysian lowland forest species. Some identification features of less well known species are described. INTRODUCTION Most present distributional knowledge of the birds of the Malay Peninsula (which includes Thailand north to the Isthmus of Kra, approx. 10' N) is summarised in MEDWAY & WELLS (1976). Important recent contributions may also be found in DICKlNSON (1966), HOLMES & WELLS (1975), BOSWALL (1978) and SUMMERS-SMITH (1981). The Malaysian lowland forest bird fauna becomes increasingly attenuated with northward progression along the peninsula. However, as many of the Thai provinces, in particular those closer to Kra, have received only sparse coverage, the true northern distributional limits of many species which are common further south have yet to be determined. This paper mainly reports observations made in wildlife sanctuaries of the Royal Forest Department which are situated in perhaps the largest remaining area of lowland, semi-evergreen forest in Thailand. This extends throughout the adjacent hilly parts of the provinces of Ranong, Surat Thani and Phang-nga and was estimated by BnocKELMAN (1975) from satellite photographs as covering perhaps 5000 sq. km. Additional observations were also made in Phuket, Krabi and Trang Provinces.
    [Show full text]
  • Silat: a Muslim Traditional Martial Art in Southern Thailand 125
    Silat: A Muslim Traditional Martial Art in Southern Thailand 125 Chapter 3 Silat: A Muslim Traditional Martial Art in Southern Thailand Bussakorn Binson Introduction In Thai nomenclature, silat has various written forms, e.g. zila, sila, shila, zilat, sila, shilat, and zzila. It can also be called dika, buedika, buezila, buerasila, padik, and bueradika. In this chapter, “silat” will be used in accordance with the Encyclopaedia of Cultures in Southern Thailand (Ruengnarong 1999:8029) to depict an art form that is a blend of martial arts, folk performing arts, sport, and an element of the ritual occult all belonging to the Muslim social group of the Malay Peninsula. The most prominent martial art among Thai-Muslim communities in Southern Thailand is known as pencak silat. According to the Pattani Malay dialect - Thai Dictionary, “silat” is derived from “bersila” or “ssila” which means a form of traditional Malaysian martial art. Some linguists postulate that “silat” is derived from the Sanskrit word “shila” which means a fight to support honesty. Silat spread northward from the Malay Peninsula into Southeast Asia sev- eral hundred years ago. Its origin, however, is still ambiguous among Thais due to the absence of written evidence. A few legends have been maintained over the generations by lineages of silat masters in Southern Thailand. Whilst the history of silat is neither clear nor concise, most scholars acknowledge the art form is the result of the blending of a mixture of religious influences from Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism and cultural influences from Indonesia, India, and China. In this chapter the author will describe the characteristics of silat in Southern Thailand by describing its knowledge transfer and the related rites and beliefs in both practice and performance.
    [Show full text]
  • Scoping Study for the Special Border
    INDONESIA-MALAYSIA-THAILAND GROWTH TRIANGLE SCOPING STUDY FOR THE SPECIAL BORDER ECONOMIC ZONE (SBEZ) IN THE INDONESIA-MALAYSIA-THAILAND GROWTH TRIANGLE (IMT-GT) SCOPING STUDY FOR THE SPECIAL BORDER ECONOMIC Zone (SBEZ) in the INDONESIA-MALAYSIA- THAILAND GROWTH TRIANGLE (IMT-GT) 15 May 2014 The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this publication and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. By making any designation of or reference to a particular territory or geographic area, or by using the term “country” in this document, ADB does not intend to make any judgments as to the legal or other status of any territory or area. ADB encourages printing or copying information exclusively for personal and noncommercial use with proper acknowledgment of ADB. Users are restricted from reselling, redistributing, or creating derivative words for commercial purposes without the express, written consent of ADB. Contents Acknowledgments v Executive Summary vi I INTRODUCTION 1 1 Background and Coverage 3 1.1 Study Objective 3 1.2 Background 3 1.3 Activities Carried Out Under the Study 4 1.4 Report Structure 5 2 SBEZ Concept and Implementation Framework 7 2.1 SBEZ Concept 7 2.2 Motivation for Thai-Malaysian SBEZ 9 2.3 SBEZ Components 11 2.4 Roadmap 15 II BORDER AREA PROFILE 17 3 Characterization of Study
    [Show full text]
  • Assessment on Economic, Socialand Cultural Rights in Thailand
    ASSESSMENT ON ECONOMIC, SOCIALAND CULTURAL RIGHTS IN THAILAND FOCUSING ON NATURAL RESOURCES ON BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS AND CASES OF TRANS-BOUNDARY IMPACT Joint Submission to the United Nations Committee on International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) 55th Session 01 - 19 By Community Resource Centre Northern Development Foundation Thai Sea Watch Association E-Sarn Human Rights and Peace Information Centre Project for Campaign for Public Policy on Mineral Resources. Submitted by May 8, 2015 1 Preamble This report is created by a NGO network consisting of the Community Resource Centre, the Northern Development Foundation, the Thai Sea Watch Association, the E-Sarn Human Rights and Peace Information Centre and the Project for Campaign for Public Policy on Mineral Resources. The information presented in this report is based on the work of the civil society organizations mentioned above, all of which work with supporting communities affected by human rights violations, and with protecting natural resources and the environment. Issues relating to the general provisions of the Covenant The collective experience of the NGOs in the network is that violations of the rights derived from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights occur in Thailand. The violations especially arise in relation to the exploitation of natural resources and the environment, including natural resource management, but also in most of the on-going development projects, which affect not only the country’s environment and the natural resources, but also its people and communities. The network would like to present the situation in Thailand according to its experience in relation to the Covenant as follows.
    [Show full text]