Phuket sea gypsy museum to be given B50mn new lease of life

Phuket sea gypsy museum to be given B50mn new lease of life

Premkamon Ketsara

PHUKET:-- Officials have confirmed that B50 million is to be spent on renovating the abandoned sea gypsy “museum” and cultural centre on Koh Siray.

The site of the original museum has slowly turned into a hangout for drug users and has also become a place of choice for a number of the island’s homeless.

“The building which was supposed to be the sea gypsy museum is now ruined. The original project was a waste of money as it was never completed and has never been used,” Rassada Mayor Phudit Raksarat told The Phuket News’ Thai-language sister paper Khao Phuket last week.

“Having now agreed a budget to renovate the site, I can confirm that the new project will been a lot more useful, especially for the sea gypsies themselves,” he said.

“The reason the original building was never used was because it did not match with the sea gypsies’ objectives.

“Furthermore, the original building has got to the state it is in today because the construction materials were not weather durable. The materials used in the construction were never suitable for the project or the area,” he said.

Rassada Municipality poured millions into attempting to keep the structures sound, but the efforts were called into question in 2014, and the upkeep stopped.

“This time around we will use materials that are more durable for the island’s weather conditions,” Mayor Phudit said last week.

“In addition, the latest technology will be used within the museum including videos presenting the sea gypsies’ way of life in four different languages; Thai, English, Chinese and Russian.

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