Surviving the second tsunami - Rebuilding After Disasters: From Emergency to Sustainability - page 142

In Laem Pom, a few kilometres north of Tap Tawan, Khun Daeng asked
a similar question. In her case, though, not only was this the place of her
parents, grandparents and beyond, it was also the place from which five
members of her family were swept away. She was not going to abandon her
loved ones because someone with a piece of paper and the power of some
distant authority had laid claim. The right she claimed came from history
and sacrifice. Is that a valid right?
Minorities : Whether they were the Moken (semi-nomadic sea-based
culture), Moklen (land-based), Muslim communities, fisherfolk or Burmese
immigrants, these people were most often without the identity papers neces-
sary to receive government services. Without papers they were often rendered
invisible to aid.
Traditions : Many traditions of a community and a culture are directly
connected to the land on which they live. For example:
Unlike their Buddhist neighbors (who cremate their dead), the Moklen
bury their dead, and have a tradition of planting a coconut seedling in
the burial place. In the past, when many Moklen people lived on remote
islands, the coconut was an important ingredient in their survival - when
there was nothing else to eat or drink, the coconut offered flesh, juice and
some basic nutrition. The Moklen also use coconut trees to measure the
passing of years. As a coconut tree grows, each year's growth produces
a ring, so you can count the rings to determine how old a coconut tree
is. This has made it possible for many Moklen communities to prove
how long they had stayed on their land, by showing the trees they had
planted themselves 40, 50, 60 or even 80 years ago. 4
This connection to, and understanding of, a place was also in evidence with
the Moken people of Surin Island in terms of their understanding and use of
the local flora as materials for their boats, houses, food and medicine and
in terms of the placement of their homes in relation to the sea. 8 All of this
important information is developed in anthropological research that is often
the key to establishing tenure and to the appropriate design of housing and
communities.
Buffer zones : This idea of creating buffer zones was presented at a land-
owners' meeting held with government officials at the Andaburi Resort in
Kaolak in March of 2005. While it was favourably received by some hotel
owners who wanted to use this as a form of control over beachfront vendors,
it never got off the ground as a serious policy in the way it did in Sri Lanka
and Indonesia.
Employment : For communities dependent on the sea for their livelihoods,
any kind of buffer zone would be a terrible blow to the recovery process. In
many cases, even moving 50 metres away from the shore can make a hard life
that much harder. Professor Narumon pointed out one of the requirements
of the Moken people in village planning: