Harry Nicolaides' Weekly Column

Exclusively for Phuket-Info.com

The count of Kata Noi

It’s funny what you hear in a bar these days. I recently met an old tuna fisherman at bar on the mountain in Kata. It was twighlight and the fairy lights on the dimly lit bar twinkled like the stars of a far-flung galaxy. Beside me sat a nuggetty old man in communion with his tumbler of ice and rum. His name was also Harry. Well over 80 years old he has lived upstairs in a small room above the bar for 15 years. He has a small boat moored in Chalong harbour but has not been sailing for years, although he still enjoyed certain journeys of the imagination. He looked into his glass of Captain Morgan Dark Jamaican Rum and gently stirred his hand until the rum was cesspool of memory. He told me the story.

There is a small island off the West coast of Phuket that is part of the Andaman Islands archipelago. The indigenous inhabitants - primitive tribesmen - have been completely isolated from the development of modern civilisation. Descendants of the Negroid race, these shadowy islanders have fired the imagination of pirates and contemporary anthropologists. Participants in the recent 17-day Andaman Sea Rally which started off Kata Beach, were warned to navigate around one tiny island: North Sentinel Island and seek other anchorages instead. The Indian government (Indian sovereign waters) strictly prohibits visitation to North Sentinel Island. Rumours of a gold-laden Portuguese galleon languishing at the bottom of the sea bring tears to the eyes of crusty old sailors. Look into their eyes and you can see the glow of Saint Elmo’s fire over a sinking vessel being swallowed by ol’ briny.

And what keeps these buccaneers away from North Sentinel Island? Well not the Indian government. You may only lose your boating licence. It’s another small matter. The local tribesmen enjoy many exotic delicacies provided by the bounty of the sea. A cornucopia of fruits on the island satiates their thirst for sweet nectars. However there is one insatiable appetite that the local tribesmen have that is an encumbrance on tourism: Cannibalism! Their unbridled blood lust for human flesh is well documented as is their totemic practice of devouring the brains of their hapless victims and triumphantly hoisting the hollowed-out head onto a trophy pole consisting of other painstakingly preserved hollow heads.

What is it about cannibalism that offends the sensibilities of contemporary society? Perhaps it is the last taboo. Hannibal Lector, the high priest of cannibalism devoured his victims with exquisite panache but Hannibal was a cultured cannibal. He prepared his meals with the ceremonial flamboyance befitting the ordination of a bishop. Always sumptuous and sensual his crimes were the epitome of elegance. Notwithstanding Hannibal Lector’s investiture into history’s gallery of bogeymen, cannibalism is still regarded as an unspeakable crime against humanity. Alternatively, necrophilia, incest and bestiality have been well-documented in primitive and modern societies. Cave drawings depicting these acts have been discovered throughout Mesopotamia. Hollywood has paid homage to these behaviours on celluloid packaged as high art for the consumption of the cognoscenti at the Cannes Film Festival. However cannibalism has remained largely unexplored except for the mordant fascination that viewers of the B grade horror genre enjoy in seeing the gruesome details of a grisly death. Being eaten alive is no longer the academic preserve of anthropologists.

There is a now celebrated Japanese trial conducted post-war dealing with a soldier who ate surviving members of an isolated and marooned unit of men in the south pacific. The obscure case was conducted in secret so as not to arouse widespread public outrage and indignation which would contaminate the trial. The soldiers were on patrol in a remote area when they were cut off from the rest of the military campaign and found sanctuary in a large cave on a small island. They lived in the cave for months before a decision was taken to eat the weakest of the group until they were rescued or were all dead from starvation. A rational proposition considering the extenuating circumstances. However little clemency was extended by the judiciary as the surviving soldier was seen to have trespassed into a moral no man’s land that infects transgressors with an unshakeable halo of evil. He was condemned to death. After measured deliberations the court decided that the soldiers should have accepted their fate graciously rather than eat each other and shame their country.

The cannibalism on North Sentinel Island is intertwined with magic, spirituality and highly ritualistic practices. While hunger motivated the Japanese soldiers to eat each other it is primitive ceremonial tradition that explains cannibalism in the Andaman Islands. While this explanation diminishes the mysticism associated with the rumours it is a more objective viewpoint. And one that I was content with until Harry, the tuna fisherman smiled when he finished telling story. When I shook his hand I noticed a large gold ring on his finger. The raised-gold carving was unmistakably a Spanish gold crown. I ordered another rum for Harry, this time on my account.

Harry Nicolaides

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