Tag: sea gypsies
January Fishing in Phuket
It’s Sods Law – fishing was great right up to the start of the “High” season when the spawning tuna flooded the sea with bait-fish and easy food which makes life that much more interesting for us sports fishermen/folks. This is a great example of the exception to the rule:- “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” Tell that to our local pelagic predators, as they run the gauntlet in a bid to evade the commercial “trawlers” not to be confused with us good guys, the sports “trollers”.
With the fickle weather continuing to discumbuggerate  January, many tourists decided to visit the local fishing parks, who, unlike the boats found the start of the season better than expected with people preferring to stay ashore rather than risk a wee bit-o-weather blowing up their Khyber, while the sea stayed amazingly calm throughout. Unseasonal Mid-January thunder storms cooled the sea and left a film of fresher water on the surface of the salt, this plus the spawning were all blamed for the sudden reduction in what had been great fishing for well over a year.
While we were chasing our tails here, Ian of “M.V. Thai 2 On” reported great fishing up in the Similan Islands which is just as well as he has quite a few booking for these idyllic islands before he pulls the hook and goes one better, setting sail for the Burma Banks. (pic enc.)
What a mess at Chalong Circle with what looks like a permanent traffic jam for the foreseeable future and the pier at peak times in chaos as the buses struggle to get through the traffic in order to disgorge their zombie like passengers who follow their flag flying tour guide with no consideration for anyone around them. What happened to etiquette and respect? The same road works have also made a huge difference to the visitors to the south of the island and its related effect on the local businesses which rely on this seasonal tourism. I even have a shipmate who visits very regularly and who now says he is not returning until the circle is finished. And while on the subject: – If it takes me an hour to get through the circle at peak times, what are the Para-medics saying about the situation as they sit in their ambulances 3 or 4 times a day sirens blazing and going nowhere?  A Gypsy friend once explained snakes to me, explaining: – “The Krait (Sea Snake) is the 2 minute snake, while on land; the Cobra is the 20 minute snake. But don’t worry the hospital is only 15 minutes away – Not any more, I wonder have there been any fatalities due to this monumental cock-up?
I see the Sea Gypsies are in bother again for allegedly fishing in a National Park, waters that their great, great, grandparents fished, long before the Thais arrived on the scene. Is it not about time the Indians got a reservation, honestly, I don’t see them building a casino.
Lastly, I see via the” Phuket News” that Albania is about to lose its national bird due to Raptors. Please, my Albanian friends don’t be too concerned F22’s are the reason America’s national bird is bald. 555.
Tight lines to all.
No Fish
Hi again my fellow ofishinadoes.
March was a very poor fishing month, being in the hottest period of the year. Yes me hearties, fishing’s been as tough as trigonometry, with the high water temperature, (31C surface and 29C at 10 meters – normal 28C) and it was also suggested it was the spawning season for the Tuna as we could see them but rarely did they go for lures but this did not deter two members of the P.G.F.C. (Phuket Game Fishing Club). These intrepid anglers decided to go further afield in search of the “big” one and ended up at Bungsamran near Bangkok where they landed a 109 Kilo Giant Mekong Catfish only 8 Kilos short of the world record of 117 Kilos which was caught closer to home at Gillham’s Resort, Krabi.
Our pal Uwe, also looking for some sizeable beasties, took M.V.Hooker to the Andaman Islands and came back sporting a 100 Kilo Dogtooth Tuna among his other trophies, while M.V. Dorado on the same trip had to return on one engine and more than their fair share of electrical problems, hard luck guys, the Andaman Islands, while being the ultimate in fishing for our local boats, are always an extremely tough trip.
I see the Sea Gypsies are under fire again, for using their traps and catching reef and undersize fish thereby reducing the fish stocks. Who dreams up this nonsense? Obviously not someone who has been at sea, surrounded by commercial trawlers. Please- keep up to date with the plight of the Gypsies and their fight to keep their land in Rawai from falling into the hands of developers. They are part of the Island’s culture. Make your thoughts known as many now have “Save the Sea Gypsies”.
And how about yesterday, (Wed 17th) a quick glimpse as a big fish went screaming by my bar in the back of a pick-up WITH A POLICE ESCORT lights flashing, ME MAW – ME MAW. Consumed with curiosity and on further investigation we are led to believe 3 dolphins were washed up at the shore in Nai Harn. Two were released back to sea and the third had been injured on the rocks and apparently that was the poor beastie we saw screaming down Sai Yuan on the way to the Marine Biology Dept. at the Aquarium. Well done police and best of luck Flipper.
Last but not least:- Heard about the guy who put his boat in for repair? He was told the boat would be ready on Wednesday but unfortunately he was called away on business and when he arrived on the Friday, to pick it up, his boat was on the slipway, completely surrounded by wet cement. They had decided to repair the slipway, all but the part his boat was parked on, right in the middle. I have been advised there is a word in Thai for logic.
Tight lines to all.
Jimmy
Rawai Gypsies
Having read recent articles in the media regarding the Rawai Sea Gypsies, this month’s article is only vaguely fishing related, being about the plight of the people who taught me all I know about the Andaman Sea and still continue to educate and amaze me, The Rawai Sea Gypsies.
Many readers may have noticed that recently they have been receiving a very poor press for damaging coral and selling undersize fish. We are being told the damage to the coral is the Gypsies fault and the diminishing fish stocks are because they take undersize fish. NONSENSE !!!!
Firstly this is their ancestral home and they have stayed here, living off the sea, for millennia, prior to the environment problems we suffer now, and even before there was a Thai population on the island.
It does not surprise me that when their “prime” land is under threat from “money hungry” developers they are now being given a bad press in order to minimize their rights to to the valuable land which they have inhabited for over 200 possibly 2,000 years, an un-provable fact because unfortunately their language cannot be written and therefore they have no reliable records. Unlike normal Buddhists the Gypsies bury their dead and have a graveyard dating back around 250 years which I would submit is credible proof of their history in Rawai.
I personally have been offered some of the land they occupy by no less than three individuals showing 3 different Chanoots all covering the same piece of land that I was considering. Namely a large building just beyond the Rawai “Gypsy” Village which I wanted to develop into a dormitory unit for international university students who wished to study the Andaman Sea, the nursery of the India Ocean, as part of their Marine Biology course,
Having drawn a blank on purchasing the land / property which has been lying vacant for a considerable number of years I approached the Marine Biology department by letter, suggesting that they, with my assistance, take over the building and working in conjunction with the Gypsies use it as a residential block for students from all around the world to study their chosen subject. I never received a reply!!!
I thought environmentally was a excellent proposal, because, as I intimated in the letter :-
1. It would teach the Gypsies, and their many visitors, conservation and how to run a sustainable under sea environment while making them more financially secure, less vulnerable to exploitation.
2. It may also help to educate the diving population not to destroy their fish traps, which I do accept catch coral fish. But please remember the metal in the Gypsies traps lasts only approximately 5 months but the frame, made of Mangrove wood, is the basis of many of the local coral reefs. These man-made but natural hollow structures are colonized by the coral and are ideal for the protection of many juvenile corral species. The same traps, which divers destroy in the name of the environment while literary taking the food from the Gypsies mouths. The same tourists who cause more environmental damage, just by getting here.
3. If you are an impoverished section of society you make a living where you can and while I do not condone the deliberate destruction of coral, the guilty party is not the Gypsies but the company who paid them to make a meager living, while running away with a handsome profit by showing non-swimming tourists a walking tour of “one” of our many coral reefs.
4. To the Department of Marine Conservation I would say. “You cannot change the way the Gypsies operate as they have done for centuries by legislation, with similar laws and regulations that relate to the fishing fleets, which have an immeasurably greater impact on the coral and the diminishing fishing stocks.”
5. Why not educate the Gypsies to be more environmentally friendly. My proposal would keep the village as a major tourist attraction with The Gypsy Village intact as a “living” historical monument. The Gypsies could earn a living by looking after students, taking out investigational teams and finding samples, etc.
They might not be well educated but these beautiful people know the local waters and what is in it better than anyone on the planet.
6. Does anyone really believe the decline in fish over the past decade is due to the Gypsies? I think not, how about all the fishing nets the Gypsies and I have pulled onboard to save other vessels “speed boats” from damage, the same nets the diving companies clear from the coral at the beginning of every season plus all the bags and refuse deposited from the same source.
As well as being accused of destroying coral, under orders from their employers, the Gypsies they have also been accused of selling undersize and protected “reef” fish at their market. Is anyone seriously considering banning their fish traps which are the mainstay of the Gypsies financial and food source? To me all these accusations, at this particular time is an attempt to demonize the Gypsies when their land is under threat from powerful developers, to me the timing of this attack seems to be much more than mere coincidence.
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