Sea Gypsies survived tsunami using their knowledge

On the southern Surin Island or Ko Surin Tai is a settlement of the Singh tribe of Sea Gypsies, the last seamen. These nomadic sea people are called "chao naam" or "chao le" which means water people. They live in a very Mu Ko Surinprimitive way of life on houseboats. Time appears to be a vague concept, as none of them knows their own age. They also can count only the numbers on their fingers. Yet, they are quite skilled in their own ways. They can build an ocean-going boat using only the most basic tools, catch fish by hand, and are famous for their talents as deep divers without scuba tanks.



By the time killer waves crashed over southern Thailand last Sunday the entire 181 population of their fishing village had fled to a temple in the mountains of South Surin Island, English language Thai daily The Nation reported.

"The elders told us that if the water recedes fast it will reappear in the same quantity in which it disappeared," 65-year-old village chief Sarmao Kathalay told the paper.