Sea Gypsies & Their Legend of Laboon - Moken Folktale

On the continent of Asia, at its middle southern point lays the country of Thailand. Right off its lush rainforest coast spread the islands of Surin in the Andaman Sea. Moken people known as the sea gypsies roam the Andaman Sea among the Surin islands. When tsunami season comes, they live at the edge of the rainforest by the sea, watching out for Laboon.

In the azure colors of the Andaman Sea the Moken children make their first steps, not in walking, but rather in swimming. They swim before they can walk. They spend so much time in the water, as a result they can see twice as sharp underwater and can hold their breath twice as long as other children.

The Moken children don’t know the meaning of time, therefore they don’t know their age. They don’t know the meaning of the word ‘want.’ As they travel from place to place by the sea, they don’t want things to hold them back. Material goods have little meaning for nomadic people.

The turquoise shades of Andaman Sea with the white frothing waves crashing against the green rainforest compose the playground for the Moken children with the colorful coral reefs filling the background. Their games are about sharpening their skills needed for survival. The children compete who can swim fastest, dive deepest, throw farthest, and find the most sea cucumbers and shellfish on a single breath.

One day, as the children played the games in the sea, they noticed the water getting shallower and shallower. The sea was receding farther and farther away from them. The hermit crabs made their way towards the forest. The birds flew to the trees at the higher elevation, leaving the sea level unusually quiet. Even the waves got flat, not making any sound. The wind stopped in its track.

The village chief came running towards the children and from afar pointed towards the land. It was so quiet, the children could clearly hear him from the distance, “Come back to the land! We have to move to the higher elevation before the Laboon comes!”

“Laboon!” the children yelled in terror and started running toward the shore. As they ran, only one image kept appearing in front of them and only one story kept replaying in their minds.

They spent many evenings by the fire filled with stories told by the Moken villagers. The most interesting tales were told by the village chief and his sister. They could entertain for hours. But there was one story in particular that stuck in their minds the most. It was the one of Laboon.

“Laboon is a sea monster. It is sent by the ancestors to remove the bad in the world and make a place for a new beginning. He gulps the water into his mouth, then spits it out with such force it results in many devastations. Then the world gets reborn after the bad is removed.”  

Now, the community of Moken people was already on the move up the mountain. They raced as quickly as they could. The young assisted the elders and the little children climbing the narrow paths through the thick rainforest. As they climbed to higher elevation they saw glimpses of the sea. A moment ago a flat sea, now became ferocious with high waves and quick speed making its way to the shore. They could feel the ground rumbling under their feet; the waves almost reaching them and the speed almost pulling them down. But they hold on to anything that could that was strongly rooted in the ground, hoping for the fierce monster to go away soon.

After the waves calmed down, the Mokens descended down to the shore. The monster wave destroyed all villages in its way. There were some people floating in the water or clinging onto the rocks and screaming for help. The Mokens searched for their longtail boats, but only pieces of wood were floating. They grabbed the larger pieces and swam towards the survivors.

And such is the tail of the sea gypsies and their legend of Laboon, which saved them from tsunami. While a lot of people lost their lives, all Mokens, who escaped to the higher elevation, were saved.

Note: In 2004, off the coast of Sumatra, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami that resulted in nearly 300,000 deaths. A community of 184 Moken people survived the tsunami thanks to the passed-down folklore of Laboon or ‘seventh wave.’

Source: The Sea Gypsies. Report by Bob Simon on 60 Minutes.