Reflections on the Human Condition - Api-fellowships.org

in Bangkok and reassembled at the traffic roundabout
near Thalang in 1966.
I will confine myself to a brief outline of the story, based
on information provided by the Thao Thepkrasattri-Thao
Srisunthorn Foundation, as presented by secondary
sources. The protagonists are Nang Jun and Nang Muk.
Their father was the Governor of Thalang appointed by
Ayutthaya and their mother was Masia, a princess or noble
of Kedah. Nang Jun became the wife of Phraya Thalang,
the chief of Thalang district.
In 1785, the Burmese sent troops to invade the west
coast of Southern Thailand, including Phuket. Phraya
Thalang’s widow Nang Jun, together with Nang Muk
and Nai Tongpoon led a defending army. In order to
intimidate the enemy, Nang Jun asked 500 women to
dress up as men and to parade in different clothes, to
deceive the Burmese about the superiority of their
numbers. They carried smoked coconut leaves which
looked like weapons from afar. They harassed the
Burmese soldiers who were scouting around or gathering
food. After a long wait, the Burmese army retreated and
Phuket was saved.
At the end of the war in 1786, King Rama I awarded the
titles Thao Thepkasattri and Thao Srisunthorn to Nang
Jun and Nang Muk; and appointed Nai Tongpoon as the
next Phraya Thalang. The episode was only chronicled
35 years later during the reign of King Rama III (1824-
1851). (Pongsapich, 1997)
The last thirty years has seen intensified efforts to seek
national and popular recognition for the heroines. In
1985, the Governor of Phuket Ouan Surakul went to
England and brought back the letters written by Nang
Jun to Francis Light. The Thalang Museum gives
prominence to this legend through its English-Thai display.
In 1992, the Thao Thepkasattri and Thao Srisunthorn
Foundation were established with funds from Princess
Sirindhorn. It oversees an annual ritual ceremony in
homage of the two heroines on March 12, and the laying of
wreaths at the sisters’ monument on March 13, designated
as Thalang Victory Day.
At the recently renovated Wat Muang Komaraphat
at nearby Bandon, a seated version of the heroines’
statues graces the altar. Occasionally, someone who
has asked the heroines to fulfil their vows will sponsor
a ronggeng performance by Orang Laut [sea gypsy]
women before the heroine’s monument at the roundabout.
While Siamese Buddhists make merit for the heroines,
Chinese Buddhists make offerings to them but are
HERITAGE, IDENTITY, CHANGE AND CONFLICT
careful not to order pork.
The fact that the two sisters are venerated in a
Buddhist-style temple, which also incorporates Chinese
practices, would lead one to believe that they are
Buddhist. But the fact that no pork is served to them
provides a clue to their identity which, even if not admitted
by the Buddhists, is implied.
The foremost Phuket authority on the Thalang heroines
K. Prasit Chinarkan, said, “We are not sure of the two
heroines’ religion—they could have been Muslim,
Buddhist or Christian”. Like many things in Thailand,
the sisters’ possible Muslim identity is left unexplained
because it would complicate the beautifully simple, unifying
picture of Thai-Buddhist supremacy.
Amongst the local Muslim minority in Phuket—
politically and economically the weakest of the three
groups—there are a few who harbour a minority view.
They say that the sister’s Muslim names, Fatimah and
Halimah, have been concealed or kept secret. (Malay:
dirahsiahkan) An even more serious allegation, from the
Muslim point of view is that the two heroines have been
“Buddha-ized”. (Malay: diBuddhakan)
A few members of the Phuket Islamic Religious Board
took us to a small grave site in a rambutan orchard,
hidden away from the main road, which they claimed
was the site of the old surau (temple). A little joss-stick
urn had been placed between the two main graves.
Apparently, the elder sister had stated in her will
(wasiatkan) that they should be buried in front of the
surau.
What do the two heroines represent in Phuket today?
It is the story of how the Thalang people, with little
resources but with sheer ingenuity and courage, defended
Phuket and Thai sovereignty against the invasion of the
Burmese enemy, thus earning for Phuket a place in the
annals of Thai history.
Secondly, the story conveys the indigenous loyalties to
the Siamese sovereign in a province which, by the 19 th
century already had a Chinese majority. The Chinese see
the two heroines as local spirits, and visiting the shrine
in the Siamese area of Thalang is a way of expressing
their own indigenized loyalties.
However, to the Muslims who have “discovered” the
heroines’ Muslim identity, the story of the two heroines
possibly represents the way that their heroines and their
history have been appropriated; or so it seems.
Ref lections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity
The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows
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