Sitting in the shade of a Nepalese tree, Phanuphong ?Daniel? Limbuprasertkul, the President of the Thai Nepalese Association chats to fellow members in Nepalese with the odd Thai phrase.

Like the majority of the 3,000 Nepalese in Phuket, some have made the long journey directly from the hills of Nepal to the beaches of Phuket, others are Myanmar-born, while others, like Daniel, were born in Thailand.

?Though I was born in Thailand,? begins Daniel, ?My blood is Nepali. I love to say that? Even third generation Nepalese born in Burma feel Nepalese. This is partly because the Burmese government do not recognise them as Burmese citizens.?

?I suppose I?m also third generation Nepalese,? Daniel continues, his story echoing with similarities of many of the Thai-Nepalese in Phuket.

?After Nepal gained independence from Britain after WW2, my grandfather ? who was a Gurkha ?moved to Myanmar in Burma because it was very close and there was lots more opportunities there. Nepal is just mountains,? said Daniel with a smile, ?but very beautiful.?

His grandfather eventually made it to Thailand to the Kanchanburi province, which was a common migration destination for the Nepalese. Daniel was also born there and stayed until he was 11 years old. The Limbuprasertkul then made their third move in as many generations and came to Bangkok, primarily for education reasons. Daniel arrived in Phuket as a young man with a high school education and did what many of his fellow brothers and sisters did and opened up a tailor shop.

In fact the majority of the men sat around the table are tailors, except for one, who has a shop in Phuket town, selling Nepalese goods.

Around the TNA?s grounds, which are situated down a side soi on Patong Hill, there are many posters of the King and Queen of Thailand. When Daniel speaks of the monarchy and the kingdom, his love clearly shines through, but it is the love for his grandfather?s native land that prompted him to found the NTA, over six years ago.

?We {TNA} wanted to get all the Nepalese together. We want to preserve our culture and our language, our very way of life.?

Although the TNA has been together for about 6 years, the Thai government finally recognized them as such, just two years ago.

?We are kind of like an NGO,? said Daniel, ?We only currently have about 40 official members - many of which have just arrived from Nepal or Burma - but we estimate there are around 3,000 Nepalese living and working in Phuket, most of whom know of our existence.?
The Association, which is made up of senior members of the Nepalese community, is set up much like any other democratic group, with selected members, acting as presidents of certain sections and fulfilling prescribed roles.

There are therefore leaders responsible for arranging activities and overseeing the duties of:
1. Female members
2. Providing help
3. Sport
4. Education
5. Music/culture
6. Youth
7. Temple
8. Society/community

As well as organising Nepalese festivals and teaching children the Nepalese language during the summer, the TNA?s main aims and role is to provide help, assistance and advice to those living and working in Phuket.

?Although we sometimes receive complaints, we don?t get involved in ?illegal? matters such as complaints concerning ?alleged? protection money from pirate DVD sellers. We just advise new arrivals of how they should be acting.?

Daniel said that his role often, like Honorary Consuls?, involved ensuring workers had and were aware that they needed to have up-to-date passports and work permits.

He said, ?We can help them but not force them into getting correct documentation, but even if they didn?t, we would still help them if they were in ?trouble?.?

Daniel referenced a case that occurred last month, where a young Nepalese man who had died didn?t have any family in Phuket to take care of proceedings; the TNA was informed and they then arranged and paid for the funeral.

Although the TNA and Daniel?s role fulfills many of the duties that an Embassy or Consulate is expected to perform, the Association does not have the same legal power or entitlements, at least according to the Thai government, so it is with strength through numbers as opposed through legislation and legal standing that Daniel wishes the Nepalese community to find its foothold and voice in Phuket.

?Of course we want our society to grow in numbers so that we are more powerful.? Perhaps then they, as a people, will be better represented and be afforded the same right to reply and lodge complaints that other foreign communities have in Phuket.

?We would really like to attend the next Hon Con meeting, but that depends on the Nepalese and Thai government. I talk with Naveen Prakash Jung Shah, the Ambassador of Nepal frequently and I think he would think that is a good idea.?

?Even if he doesn?t, I most certainly do and I will try to make that so? We are currently a very small voice in Phuket but we do deserve to be much bigger.?

A voice that Daniel admits that no matter how hard they collectively shout, they sometimes find it hard to be heard.

The TNA was recently instrumental in the capture of alleged rapist, Thai citizen Phakpoom Maneerat. Khun Phakpoom was arrested earlier in May following information submitted by the TNA, when a number of Nepali women came forward and identified K. Phakpoom as the chief suspect.

Various emotions are visibly at play when Daniel recounts what happened, ?This kind of thing has unfortunately happened before, but nothing happened back then because there?s a sense of shame, on the woman?s part, within the community when a woman is raped.

?But with this particular case, the girl came to the Association to tell us what he did. She said she was walking back to her home on Na Nai road one night and was stopped by a man in a car who said he was a police officer and asked to see her work documents.
She showed them to him, but even though they were all in order, he said they were incomplete and took her away in his car.?

Apparently the man took her to Krabi for 4-5 days, and where she was subjected to a horrendous ordeal and when they returned, he dropped her off near to the Patong police station.

?The girl was smart though,? said Daniel, ?She followed him and noted that he had gone into 7/11. She then went home to her boyfriend, who then in turn came to me. I went to the police station and told Commander Pekad about this and told him to look at the 7/11 CCTV footage to get the guy.?

After Khun Phakpoom was caught, six different Nepalese girls came forward to make similar statements and also identified him. Although he apparently confessed to the numerous rapes he spent just 5 weeks in jail, and was released on June 21. He was charged with impersonating a police officer but not for any of the alleged rapes.

Daniel along with other members of the TNA are incredulous, he becomes more animated when he tells the Post, ?I don?t know how this can happen, If it was a Thai girl, he would be spending 20 years in jail right now.?

Then, like a switch, Daniel becomes calmer and seems more resigned to the situation, ?But this case is really a rule and regulation of the Thai government. We would like to do more, but we are just a small association, but will have a meeting again after the Vegetarian Festival.?

It is instances like these that Daniel yearns to be invited to attend the tri-monthly Hon Con meeting and hopes that one day it will become a reality.

Eager to not be misunderstood, Daniel attempts to explain his feelings, and in a way manages to sum up the very essence of the problem of wanting to be and recognized as part of a separate community, yet denied the rights of a country that one is within. ?You know? I am not really 2/3rd generation Nepalese; I am really Thai. I love this country and the King. We are proud to live here in this beautiful place.

?I was born in Thailand and I?ve been in Phuket for more than 25 years, so I am very much a Phuket person now. We help Thailand and its people, for example we have helped many victims of the recent floods by donating 100,000 baht to Governor Tri himself just a few weeks ago.?

Despite not being invited to attend Hon Con meetings, and a sense that community relations could be stronger, Daniel believes that things for them are vastly improved to how they were for their forefathers in Nepal.

?It is much better now than they were say 60 years ago when my family first moved to Thailand. Thailand is definitely becoming more democratic.?

Daniel added that it was also a matter of perception, ?We Nepalese, at least the 2nd/3rd/4th generations of us, have many more options now because we are more educated and actually aware of how little our ancestors had.?

He added that for his own children and future generations of Thai-born Nepalese, the options were thankfully limitless. He has a 16-year-old daughter who wants to be a lawyer, and a son who is interested in joining the army.

?We want our children to be good people,? said Daniel, ?They have the opportunity to get good education, not like us {his generation}, so they can do anything? not just be tailors,? laughs Daniel.

With huge numbers of Thai-Nepalese professionals just a generation away, the future of Thailand and of the Thai-Nepalese community looks strong.

For just like the Nepalese seeds that were planted to grow the tree at the TNA?s grounds, its roots are strong and have been taken good care of and are sure to provide shade and comfort for many successive generations to come.