Worlds apart: Maniq confront modern life

Worlds apart: Maniq confront modern life

new outlook: Maniq children look out from their hut upon seeing strangers. photos: Tawatchai Kemgumnerd
new outlook: Maniq children look out from their hut upon seeing strangers. photos: Tawatchai Kemgumnerd

A cluster of children from the Maniq ethnic group are doing something their ancestors may have never been able to picture -- watching a TV show.

question of identity: A Maniq man poses with his identification card in front of his house.

The TV is no novelty in today's age, but seeing these Maniq, a group of hunter-gatherers whose lifestyle has remained unchanged for centuries, tuned into the modern device may strike one as an unusual sight.

These children leave their homes deep in the forest of Satun's Thung Wa district every Wednesday and Thursday night to watch Chat Lamchi, a popular TV show spotlighting the lives and culture of the people of Isan, Thailand's northeastern region.

Through the TV show, these children get exposure to a world far removed from their own. For the Maniq, daily life revolves around hunting for food -- not what is scheduled on TV.

Few outsiders get to meet and engage with the Maniq, but Darakon Tengrang, a Satun resident, is an exception.

"I hear the Maniq children sing Isan songs in the morning when I go out to tap my rubber trees," said Mr Darakon.

To watch Chat Lamchi, the Maniq children make the one-kilometre journey on foot from the forest and return home immediately after the episode ends, he said.

The TV show serves as a way to teach the children Thai language, or Isan dialect, to the Maniq, who have slowly taken steps towards adapting to the world outside the forest.

Like many Maniq who only feel comfortable speaking in their native language, the children rarely speak with those who they see as strangers.

Despite having already adopted some habits of modern lifestyles, a shyness about the Maniq persists, making them generally closed off.

However, Mr Darakon has over time gained the trust of some Maniq after purchasing products like honey and herbs from them.

"They ask me for help in selling their products to other people," he said. "They don't go to other houses. They only visit my house."

Mr Darakon has become something of a helper to the Maniq, assisting them when a tribe member falls ill and requires modern treatment over the typical herbs they have prescribed to their members for centuries.

While the Maniq have traditionally used herbs and ancient medicine to cure illnesses, they increasingly lack the time and resources for patients to make a full recovery.

"If someone is severely ill, we just leave them with food and water, and leave home," Thao Piao, or elder Piao, a Maniq villager, said through an interpreter.

According to Mr Darakon, however, medical emergencies today demand a different prescription.

ON THE MOVE

Besides their daily search for food, the Maniq regularly make journeys elsewhere to build new thap, or shelters, as part of their nomadic lifestyle.

The Maniq change thap when food in their vicinity starts running out.

These new settlements are critical to the survival of the ethnic group as they do not practise cultivation.

Family members may return to an old thap months later, but not always to reunite with ill relatives.

"If we find bones, it means that relative is dead," Thao Piao said, who explained that the departure is seen as a final journey to reunite with ancestors.

"If we see nothing, it might mean they have recovered or their carcass was eaten by animals."

Mr Darakon said he does not want to intervene with the traditions of the Maniq. He simply has a strong desire to help.

Most importantly, he said, he now considers the Maniq people his friends.

"I help carry patients from the mountain down to the hospital," he said.

"They deserve the opportunity to receive good treatment."

The experience of visiting a hospital for the first time can feel otherworldly for the Maniq. The doctors and nurses dressed in white, and surgeons poised over their operating tables surrounded by the beeping medical equipment are new sights and sounds for them.

Entering a new age: Thao Piao, a respected Maniq elder, who has 13 wives and up to 30 children, uses a tool to put out the fire as he welcomed guests to his house.

Besides the need for medical care, another reason behind the Maniq's increasingly frequent contact with nearby villagers is the retreating forest area over the past two decades, bringing them into contact with outsiders.

However, healthcare has played the most urgent role in ushering the Maniq into the modern world, with growing numbers receiving vaccination and Maniq women being treated with prenatal care.

OUT OF RANGE

Thailand is among the few places in the world where a small number of Maniq people remain. Parts of southern Thailand and Malaysia in the Malay Peninsula are home to the Maniq people, most recognisable by their frizzy hair, tanned complexion and short build.

Anthropologists have classified them as belonging to the Negrito and Austronesian ethnic groups.

The Maniq are thought to have been among the first explorers and settlers in the Malay Peninsula.

In Thailand, experts estimate there are about 400 Maniq people living on two mountain ranges -- Sankala Khiri in the neighbouring provinces of Yala and Narathiwat, and Banthat, covering Phatthalung, Trang and Satun.

According to the Network of Southern Ethnic Groups, up to 300 Maniq people live on the Banthat mountain range. Those remaining on Sankala Khiri move between Thailand and Malaysia, said Suchat La-o, chief of Than Plio checkpoint at the Banthat Wildlife Sanctuary.

According to Mahidol University linguists, the two groups of Maniq use different languages. However, the languages belong to the same Aslian family, which is also part of the Mon-Khmer and Austroasiatic groups.

"So when two Maniq people from the two mountains meet, they cannot understand one another," Mr Suchat said.

The elder Tao Piao leads a group of 23 Maniq in a resettlement process. At age 84, Thao Piao has 13 wives and up to 30 children.

He is the father-in-law of Thao Khai Simanang, the leader of another Maniq group of 51 members in Langu district. They live on the other side of Banthat mountain range.

Mr Suchat said the Thao Khai group seems to be the most open-minded when it comes to embracing outside influence.

The Thao Piao group has started to welcome more modern elements in their lifestyle, but they have done so more reluctantly.

Language barriers play a major role in isolating the Maniq from outside cultures. According to the Mahidol University linguists, the Maniq language is limited by what is available in their immediate natural surroundings, making it hard to sell goods to villagers as they miss out on words used in trade and calculating processes.

Their lack of Thai-language skills can make them an easy target for exploitation.

"They also don't like us when we call them 'Sakai' as they feel it's like we're looking down on them and don't see them like humans," Mr Suchat said.

The word "Sakai" is associated with slavery and barbarian cultures, making it an offensive term for the Maniq.

Holding cards: Thao Khai Srimanang, left, a leader of the Maniq community in Satun who received his identification card months ago, and his sons show pictures of their identification cards.

MODERN ANOMALY

Maniq children and teenagers are showing a growing interest in the outside world.

Members of the Thao Piao group wear sarong and jeans when they visit the city. Members of some other groups have even been known to wear make-up and accessories.

"Some women have learned to use cosmetics and wear pendants they got from villagers while men ride motorcycles," Mr Suchat said.

"But when they come back to their thap, they wear only sarong and do their hunting as usual."

While modernising seems to be an inevitability for the Maniq, experts and Mr Suchat agree that adaptation should not be forced and that the fundamental traditions of the Maniq should remain intact.

The two can co-exist in harmony, experts have said.

A survey was recently conducted to issue Thai identity cards to the Maniq. These would allow them to access education and healthcare services, according to officials.

The Rights and Liberties Protection Department last year conducted DNA tests of members of Thao Khai group to record their identities. Later in February this year, the Civil Registration Division issued the ID cards for them.

Some members of Thao Piao underwent a similar process. Three of them have already been granted the cards and were registered by Thung Wa district officials, Mr Suchat said.

Ad Simanang was among the first Maniq to receive an ID card, securing him access to medical treatment.

Despite being cardholders, however, these Maniq do not request, or apply for commercial services like registration for new smart phone numbers and discounts at petrol stations and fast food restaurants.

The Maniq enjoy a slow pace of life despite having to chase down their sustenance daily.

"We continue to live in the old way," said Mr Ad.

Their hunter-gathering skills let them enjoy subsistence living. Certain herbs found in the forest can fetch anywhere between 20-30 baht when sold to villagers, according to Mr Ad.

Some Maniq can make more money by selling wild honey at 500 baht or even serving as forest tour guides, which can earn them 1,000 baht, said Khaneung Chandaeng, a villager in Langu district.

Government officials have no plan to make significant changes to Maniq lifestyles, but they think Maniq children should be be educated to have some useful knowledge that applies to daily life.

"We're thinking of hiring teachers for them," said Pitikan Sithidej, chief of the Rights and Liberties Protection Department.

"They should be able to read and write [Thai language], and know how to calculate."

According to Mr Darakon, Maniq children should not have to enroll in school. Having volunteer teachers should be enough, he said.

Maniq people require knowledge to "prevent themselves from being fooled" by strangers from outside their community, he said.

Unlike the hill tribes in the mountainous North and the Moken sea gypsies that receive aid from both national and international NGOs, the Maniq tribe has rarely received any financial help.

That leaves the government as the main source of aid in improving the lives of the Maniq, said National Human Rights Committee member Tuanjai Deetes.

Despite state efforts to introduce modern elements to the Maniq lifestyle, a recent talk with the elder Thao Piao suggests that the Maniq also have something to teach outsiders.

"Maniq people have only day and night, and live only for the present," Thao Piao said. "The Maniq tribe has no tradition of recording past events and planning for the future."

In the minds of many Maniq, tradition can never be outdated as there is only the present.

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