The Maniq or Mani are an ethnic group 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 b ...

. They are more widely known in Thailand as the ''Sakai'' ( th, ซาไก), a controversial derogatory term meaning'barbarism'. They are the only

Negrito The term Negrito () refers to several diverse ethnic groups who inhabit isolated parts of Southeast Asia and the Andaman Islands. Populations often described as Negrito include: the Andamanese peoples (including the Great Andamanese, the O ...

group in Thailand and speak a variety of related

Aslian languages The Aslian languages () are the southernmost branch of Austroasiatic languages spoken on the Malay Peninsula. They are the languages of many of the ''Orang Asli'', the aboriginal inhabitants of the peninsula. The total number of native speakers o ...

, primarily Kensiu and Ten'edn. They have their own language, culture, and no alphabet. In Thailand, the Maniq minority live in the southern provinces of Yala,

Narathiwat Narathiwat ( th, นราธิวาส, ) is a town (thesaban mueang) in southern Thailand and capital of Narathiwat Province. The town is in the Mueang Narathiwat District and was established in 1936. As of 2008, the population was 40,521. ...

Phatthalung Phatthalung (, ) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of Phatthalung Province. The town covers ''tambon ''Tambon'' ( th, ตำบล, ) is a local governmental unit in Thailand. Below district ('' amphoe'') and prov ...

, Trang, and

Satun Satun (, , ms, Setul) is a town (''thesaban mueang'') in southern Thailand, capital of the Satun Province. It covers the whole ''tambon'' Phiman of Mueang Satun. Satun lies 985 km south of Bangkok. As of 2005 it has a population of 21,498 ...

Characteristics

The ''Maniq'' are a

hunting and gathering society A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

. They build temporary huts of bamboo with roofs made of banana leaves. They hunt many types of animals and consume many different kinds of vegetables and fruits. They wear simple clothes made of materials such as bamboo leaves. They are familiar with many different species of

medicinal herb Medicinal plants, also called medicinal herbs, have been discovered and used in traditional medicine practices since prehistoric times. Plants synthesize hundreds of chemical compounds for various functions, including defense and protection ag ...

s. The director-general of the Rights and Liberties Protection Department of the Justice Ministry, said the Maniq are categorised into two groups based on where they live. The first group lives in the

Titiwangsa Mountains The Titiwangsa Mountains ( Malay: ''Banjaran Titiwangsa,'' بنجرن تيتيوڠسا, ), also known as ''"Banjaran Besar"'' (Big Range) by locals, is the chain of mountains that forms the backbone of the Malay Peninsula. The northern section ...

in Yala and Narathiwat while the second group dwells in the Banthat Mountains in Phatthalung, Trang, and Satun. The total population of the Maniq is about 300 people. However, they are divided into several different clans.''Primal Survivor: Season 5, episode 1'' Among the Malaysian sultans and rulers of the southern provinces of

who ruled and enslaved the Negrito slaves, it was once regarded as prestigious to keep Negritos in their yards as part of

collections Collection or Collections may refer to: * Cash collection, the function of an accounts receivable department * Collection (church), money donated by the congregation during a church service * Collection agency, agency to collect cash * Collection ...

of amusing jungle beings. In the first decade of the twentieth century, the king of Thailand,

King Chulalongkorn Chulalongkorn ( th, จุฬาลงกรณ์, 20 September 1853 – 23 October 1910) was the fifth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, titled Rama V. He was known to the Siamese of his time as ''Phra Phuttha Chao Luang'' (พร� ...

(Rama V) visited the southern regions of his country and met with the Semang people. In 1906, an orphan Semang boy who was captured and named Khanung was sent to the royal court, where he was perceived as the adoptive son of the ruler. From this event, it has led to the patronage of the Semang people by the royal court.

Migration

Occasionally, Mani Clans will move to a new area. Hunters are sent to navigate the terrain in order to find a spot for their clan to setup camp. When a spot is found the hunters return to their clan to bring them to their new home.

References

External links

Film: Last Foragers Standing. The daily life of the ManiqMani people : Ethnic ‘negrito’ tribe of ThailandEthnologue report for Tonga languageThailand Mani indigenous dataRWAAI (Repository and Workspace for Austroasiatic Intangible Heritage)
* http://hdl.handle.net/10050/00-0000-0000-0003-66FA-7@view Maniq in RWAAI Digital Archive Indigenous peoples of Southeast Asia Ethnic groups in Thailand Hunter-gatherers of Asia Negritos {{Thailand-stub

Characteristics

Migration

See also

References

External links