It was the story of the “Laboon” – the seven-layered wave – that saved the sea nomads of Tap Tawan in Thailand’s Phang Nga province when the Indian Ocean tsunami struck two decades ago, Witawas Thepsong says.
The Laboon had hit the coast in earlier centuries and was remembered in the folklore of the Moklen and other nomadic fishing communities – a survival guide passed on through generations.
When the sea receded in the moments before the tsunami barrelled into Thailand’s Andaman Coast in the midmorning of December 26, 2004, many among the seafaring communities of Tap Tawan made choices that would save their lives.
“The village elders told them to climb to higher ground, while others who were out to sea, followed ancestral knowledge passed down through generations and rowed their boats further to avoid the waves,” Witawas, an activist for Thailand’s sea nomads, recalls.
In Tap Tawan, most villagers belong to the Moklen sea nomad group in Phang Nga, one of the most affected areas. Other linked sea communities such as Moken settled in the Mu Ko Surin Islands and in Phi Phi Krabi and Trang province.
Over the coming days, a picture of just how crucial their knowledge had been, began to emerge as the scale of devastation from the tsunami became apparent.