Fresh from Youth – 'Tub' Enters the Classroom: The Way of the Mani Youth
Mani youth at a Satun school are learning traditional forest skills like building shelters and roasting tubers alongside formal education, bridging their indigenous lifestyle with modern aspirations while facing challenges like lack of elec
Students in various uniforms are enthusiastically gathering leaves to thatch the roof of a 'tub,' a traditional temporary shelter, creating a captivating scene at the Ban Wang Sai Thong tourism site in Satun Province.
This is more than just entertainment—it represents the transmission of forest wisdom through a new generation of Mani youth adapting to the outside world.
Mani students from Ban Wang Sai Thong School demonstrate their expertise in constructing 'tubs' from selecting and layering leaves as weatherproof roofing, building fires for warmth, and roasting 'hva man,' a tuber staple, to employing inherited hunting tools and ecological knowledge.
Kru Toi, teacher Praphai, the students' closest mentor, explains that the demonstration reflects instincts one hundred percent innate to these children, as it mirrors their actual forest lifestyle. The school merely supplements what's lacking—formal education, social etiquette, and communication skills—enabling them to confidently welcome and inform tourists.
What's compelling isn't just their shelter-building skills, but the aspirations of these young people. One student, Chub, expresively shares her dream of becoming a nurse to care for her frequently ill parents. Many classmates show passion for sports, noting that classroom learning is harder than building shelters, yet they enjoy studying and aspire to become athletes.
While these students are adapting better to urban society and earning supplementary income from community service and tourist boat tours, educational pathways remain limited.
"The critical obstacle is that their shelters lack electricity and internet, so homework can only be completed at school or in the evenings," Kru Toi explains. "Basic supplies like pencils, erasers, and notebooks are scarce."
Kru Toi currently oversees 43 Mani children ranging from preschool to primary school. Encouraging children to express themselves through traditional lifestyles not only generates income and added value for Ban Wang Sai Thong community tourism but also builds 'immunity' for these ethnic minority youth to stand firm in modern society happily, without forgetting their roots.
