Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

24
SESSION I
ONCE UPON A TIME IN PHUKET: CHANGING IDENTITIES AMONG
THE BABA CHINESE AND THAI MUSLIMS IN A TOURIST PARADISE
Khoo Su Nin (Salma) Nasution
ISSUES
The way a nation-state defines its population is largely
top-down, leaving little room for communities,
particularly minorities and provincial populations,
to negotiate their identities. However, because
governments take tourism seriously and allocate
resources for tourism development, participation in
cultural tourism is a new way for communities to
project their identities, in a manner that is politically
non-threatening and most likely to earn state
recognition.
While the Thai nation-state exerts a strong cultural
hegemony, at the local level there is space for the
cultural minorities in Phuket to construct historical
narratives which resonate with their own social memory.
These historical narratives are often used to reaffirm,
enrich and elevate identity within a given socio-cultural
context.
This essay will look at three popular historical narratives
in Phuket and what they represent. It will also look at
two contemporary phenomena in which communities
have mobilized resources to stage events which showcase
their history, tradition and identity, ostensibly to a
tourism audience.
BACKGROUND
Phuket is a Southern province; the people speak a
provincial Southern dialect and take pride in their
difference from the Northerners. As one of the 14
provinces of Southern Thailand, Phuket province
comprises 39 islands in the Andaman Sea. The largest
island in Thailand, Phuket covers an area of about 570
square kilometers, roughly the size of Singapore.
The 2000 census recorded 249,000 inhabitants, but
the real figure at the end of 2004 was thought to
be more like half a million—the difference being
made up of unregistered Thai urban migrants, a
large expatriate population, and Burmese labor. Thais
make up 98.5% of the population, with 81.6% Thai
Buddhists and 17.1% Thai Muslims. Christians and
sea gypsies (including Orang Laut) each form less than
1%. No distinction is made between Thais and
Thai Chinese, since both have Thai as nationality and
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
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Buddhist as religion. The percentage of Thai Muslims
is in sharp decline from the 35% mentioned in a 1980
guidebook, which also enumerated 29 mosques, 28 Thai
temples, a dozen or so Chinese temples, four Christian
Churches, and one Sikh Temple.
THREE HISTORICAL NARRATIVES
The idea of Phuket as a resort island dates back only to
around 1970. Before that, Phuket was mainly thought
of as a tin-port. From the 16 th century, Western maps
marked the island “Junkceylon” (variously spelt), most
likely a corruption of the Malay name, “Ujong Salang”
or “Tanjong Salang”, the point or cape of Thalang.
(Gerini: 1986 (1905), 61-2; Na Pombejra: 2002, 92;
Kynnersley: 1904, 12)
Among the historical narratives that could be said to
represent Phuket, and which the Phuket authorities
have chosen to support, three stand out.
The first is the story of the two national heroines of
Thalang who led the resistance against the Burmese
invasion. The second story is the legend of Mahsuri
which has been aggrandized in Langkawi and has now
been traced back to the Thai Muslims in Kamala. The
third is the more complex story of how the Hokkien
(Fujian) migrants built Phuket town, and how Phuket
was wisely governed by an overseas Chinese leader loyal
to the King.
Government support for the champions of the three
historical narratives means government recognition for
the three historic communities of Phuket. This conveniently
entails the spreading around of development funds to
three local administrations in different parts of the island.
THE HEROINES OF THALANG
The story of the two heroines of Thalang is synonymous
with Phuket. Indeed, Phuket’s claim to be a historical
destination for Thai tourists rests on the fame of the
two sisters who successfully repelled a Burmese invasion
in the 18 th century. Perhaps the most photographed
monument in Phuket is the bronze statues of the two
heroines cast by the National Fine Arts Department