Urak Lawoi ( ms, Orang Laut; th, อูรักลาโว้ย; ) are an

Aboriginal Malay The term Proto-Malay, which translates to ''Melayu Asli'' (aboriginal Malay) or ''Melayu Purba'' (ancient Malay) or ''Melayu Tua'' (old Malay), refers to Austronesian speakers, possibly from mainland Asia, who moved to the Malay peninsula and ...

people residing on the islands of

Phuket Phuket (; th, ภูเก็ต, , ms, Bukit or ''Tongkah''; Hokkien:普吉; ) is one of the southern provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, the country's largest island, and another 32 smaller islands of ...

Phi Phi The Phi Phi Islands ( th, หมู่เกาะพีพี, , ) are an island group in Thailand between the large island of Phuket and the Straits of Malacca coast of Thailand. The islands are administratively part of Krabi Province. Ko Phi P ...

, Jum, Lanta, Bulon and on Lipe and Adang, in the

Adang Archipelago Adang may refer to: * Adang language *Camilla Adang *Adang Daradjatun *Ko Adang Ko Adang ( th, เกาะอาดัง, ) is the second biggest island within Tarutao National Marine Park, in Thailand, very close to Ko Lipe island. The island ...

, off the western coast of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. They are known by various names, including Orak Lawoi', Lawta, Chao Tha Le (), Chao Nam (), and Lawoi. The population of approximately 6,000 speak a language related closely to

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

but influenced by

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

. The Urak Lawoi are one of several southeast Asian ethnicities referred to as "Sea Gypsies" (''chao leh'' in Thai). The local way of life has been changing rapidly in recent years, due to the rapid encroachment of the

market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...

, and the opening of

Tarutao National Marine Park Tarutao National Park ( th, อุทยานแห่งชาติตะรุเตา) consists of 51 islands in the Strait of Malacca, off the coast of Satun Province of southern Thailand. The Tarutao National Park consists of two isla ...

References

Ethnic groups in Thailand Nomadic groups in Eurasia {{Asia-ethno-group-stub

See also

References