4 Peoples That Live In The Sea

The sea is an inhospitable environment for man and yet man has an incredible capacity for adaptation. That is why it is not surprising that there have been people who for centuries have not only lived with the seas and oceans, but have even made them their habitat. They are the peoples that live in the sea , of which ethnic groups still survive, which coincidentally are concentrated in the area of ​​Southeast Asia.

1. The Bajau Laut in the Coral Triangle

First question: where is the Coral Triangle? It is an area between the islands of the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. And in fact, the Bajau Laut people, also known as Sama, move throughout that area of ​​the Pacific, through which they move in their boats called lepa lepa. Although, there are also areas of Borneo where they keep relatively more stable houses when rising by pylons above the sea.

Their nomadic character and way of life have earned them the nickname the gypsies of the sea. They are famous for their ability to dive, as they consume less oxygen than anyone else underwater and reach depths of up to 20 meters without difficulty. After that dive, they always return to the surface with some fish or sea cucumbers, since they obviously live on everything that the ocean provides.

2. The population of Ko Panyi in Thailand

This is a town located between two Thai national parks, Ao Phang Nga and Than Bok Khorani, and on the shores of the Andaman Sea that bathes some of the most touristy places in Thailand in the provinces of Phuket and Krabi. However, although it may seem an idyllic place, it was originally a place of exile at the end of the 18th century.

It is at that moment when you have to look for its origin. When Malaysian immigrants from the island of Java were confined there. Once in that territory, surrounded by mangroves, they decided to build their homes on pylons that separate them from the water.

Since then this population has practically become a floating island where one can be surprised not only with the aquatic ways of life of these people, but with what they have been able to create. They even have their own mosque, as they are mainly Muslim.

By the way, very close you can discover James Bond Island, for all fans of his films.

3. The Tanka tribe in the South China Sea

The origins of this tribe are legendary. It is said that they are related to water snakes, that they never leave their boats and that they could be submerged for three days without taking air.

Obviously everything is false, but it is true that they live in and from the South China Sea, straddling the coasts of Guangxi Province and Hainan Island. And even the first population that existed on the neighboring island of Hong Kong was founded by the Tanka tribe.

The tanka are eminently fishermen, and time seems to have stopped in their populations. They are floating cities based on stilt houses, that is, houses raised on stakes and pillars that isolate them from the water. There is no traffic in them, except for bicycles and boats through the canals.

Of course, in its most touristy places, such as Tai O, we will find restaurants to taste its culinary traditions where everything is based on fresh fish and seafood, almost always accompanied with rice.

4. The sea tribe in Indonesia

In fact, calling them the sea tribe is because in the local language these people, who live and navigate between the Riau islands of Indonesia, the coasts of the Malaysian peninsula and the outskirts of Singapore, are called Orang Suku Laut. And actually, “orang laut” in Malay does not mean anything other than sea.

In addition to admiring their ability to build resistant houseboats, their immense ability to fish and their tremendous adaptation to an environment such as the sea, the most interesting thing about these people is discovering their history.

Originally they were a very useful tribe in the kingdom of Srivijaya and the sultanates of Malacca and Johor, because they were charged with patrolling the coast to repel pirates, abundant in these latitudes, or warn of the arrival of foreign people.