July 4, 2008
Bangkok - Traditional fishing which was once a thriving industry in Pattani and Yala province has been reduced to a dwindling niche activity as fishermen lose out to large commercial firms and soaring fuel prices.
The problem makes the situation worse as southern people already suffer from the unrest which has claimed more than 3,300 lives in the last four years.
"Normally I stay at home and buy some shrimp from the others to sell again because petrol is expensive," Pattani fisherman, Ramly, 47, told AFP.
Ramly is one of the fishermen who pin their hope on their children, waiting for the government to solve the problem hopelessly.
Commercial fishing operations not only squeeze out Thai fishermen, forcing them to leave for work in Malaysia, but also lead to huge influxes of cheap foreign labour from neighbouring countries.
About 70-80% of labourers on the commercial fishing boats are from Myanmar and Cambodia, according to Sukree Hajisamae, a fisheries expert with the department of science at Prince Songkla University in Pattani.
The southern border association in Yala has a project to financially support the fishermen, but Sukree says this too is inadequate.
It is uncertain if there will be any fishing left for the locals in the next ten years. People will just have to become construction workers or go to Malaysia to find work there
