PHUKET: The Phuket Provincial Court is facing a long series of lawsuits aimed at getting members of
the Rawai Sea Gypsy village – the largest such village in Phuket – evicted from land claimed by a local
businessman who bought the land four years ago.
On one side of a complex ongoing legal battle are the 2,035 residents of the village. On the other
are six people who claim that the land under the village of 244 houses belongs to them – and who have
paperwork to back their claims.
The cases highlight a long-running dispute between the villagers, who claim that they and their
ancestors have lived on the land for at least 500 years, and the six owners.
Businessman Piyawat Sangiamkul, who owns the Baan Raya Resort & Spa on Racha Yai Island, is the
second owner to take legal action.
Suthep Mukdee has already won two cases, against brothers-in-law Maren and Anan Bangjak, who lost
their bid to stay on the land when the court ruled that because they had signed a lease, this indicated
they did not own the land. An appeal against this ruling has already been lodged.
Niran Yangpan, representative of the fishing community, in conversation with The Phuket News,
insisted that the village had been at its present site for more than 500 years.
"Our ancestors moved here more than 500 years ago. The land owners who hold the deeds claim that they
have deeds issued since 1971. This is later than our history."
"They claim that they already owned the land when [Sea Gypsies] came to ask them to allow them to
live on the land."
Only in recent years has friction grown between the two sides, with attempts launched in 2008 to get
the Sea Gypsies off the land.
Mr Niran said that strangers had come to set up businesses in the village with the permission of the
people who claim the land. This, he believes, was a ploy to demonstrate to the courts that the land had
been leased, and was not owned by the villagers.
A lawyer representing the villagers, Puwanark Buaniam agrees with this view.
"From the oral evidence and from visiting the area, I believe the village dates back to before the
official promulgation of the Land Code in 1954.
"Moreover, there are photographs of HM the King visiting the village in 1959, which proves it existed
before the deeds were issued in 1971.
"We have oral evidence [from old people], together with their old and unique culture, the graveyard
and permanent houses."
Mr Niran also explained how Mr Maren and his neighbour Mr Anan lost their cases.
"The land owner came to see them, and told them they could stay on land and that he would look after
them, and all the people in the area. He just wanted their signature on a document.
"Both are illiterate, and they believed him and put their thumbprints on the document. Later, they
realized that they had signed a land lease. So, from being owners of the land, they became lessees." The
court backed up this view of the situation.
The lawyer, Mr Puwanark, has already lodged an appeal on their behalf and they are waiting for a
court date.
On October 4 another villager, Sanit Saechua, appeared in court but the case against him was stopped
when it was shown that his sister Bangorn, not he, was the occupant of the house involved in this
case,and he had been removed from the house registration book.
Oddly, the house registration book does not specify who the owner of the house is.
Mr Piyawat told The Phuket News he bought the land in Rawai at auction from the Bank of Ayutthaya and
the Legal Execution Department, which handles auctions of property pledged against defaulted loans.
Mr Piyawat believes absolutely that the deed is legitimate. "This land was auctioned by the bank and
I bought it. It has a deed which assures me I have legal ownership.
"If the court rules against me I will sue the bank and the Legal Execution Department for selling
land with a bad title deed."
Mr Piyawat wants to use the land to build a pier for transport between Rawai and the resort on
Racha Yai.
Initially Mr Piyawat told The Phuket News that he did not know before he bought it that there were
people living on the land. He only learned this when his family went to survey the land after the
sale.
"When I bought the land I hadn't seen it – I had just visited the rough area. When my mother led a
team of land officials to survey the land they were shouted at and chased off by some fishermen from the
village. That's when we learned there were people living there."
Later, however, Mr Piyawat admitted that he and his family had known people in the village for long
time and had employed villagers on many occasions to move items between Racha Yai and Rawai
Beach.
However, he said that he had bought the land without having it surveyed first; he had ensured only
that it was in area he needed to make a warehouse and pier. He added that he had believed that the fact
that the land had a deed and was for sale meant that no one could be living on it.
"I really cannot give land to those villagers who have house certificates. I paid a lot of money for
the legal land deed," he said. "The people who have house certificates must be evicted. As for the rest
who do not have [house certificates] I will organize for them to live on the land and let them work for
me," he said.
After Wednesday's brief hearing that established Mrs Bangorn as the target of the lawsuit, the
hearing was adjourned to a date yet to be fixed.
Mr Piyawat's lawyer, Prasert Nantalohit, said that suits will be brought against another seven
villagers living on his client's land.
The case against Mrs Bangorn worries the village representative, Mr Niran. "I am concerned that if
[Mr Piyawat] wins this case, the rest of the village land will go to the 'owners'," he said.
If the owners win their cases against the villagers, it could end in the break-up of Phuket's biggest
traditional fishing community. No one seems to have any idea about where the Sea Gypsies would move to
if they are ordered off the land.
The community has a unique way of life, a unique culture or unique religious beliefs. Without the
village, Phuket may lose a chunk of centuries-old cultural heritage.
