Folklore

Language: Pga K'Nyaw (Thailand)

Description

There are many Pga K’Nyaw folktales about living with the forest and conserving it. In Pga K’Nyaw, we say Baw Ler Ler”, which means to preserve, or conserve.

There are also prohibitions like “Ta De Doh”— the valley when two mountains meet. It’s taboo to clear the land there. Stories are told warning about this, like the old tale of a father who went to farm at a valley. One night something came to threaten him – a ghost or a demon. But he didn’t believe them and left his daughter at the farm. In the morning she was gone—she had been eaten.

This story has been told over generations. This consciousness as a result is a form of conservation that is passed down through stories because it gives children a place to learn about their own way of life and culture. If we teach these lessons like they teach in school, the children won’t learn. But if we tell stories, children will absorb it, just like my generation did growing up here, without schools. We learned from telling stories and offerings. It helps us remember them and pass them on.

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Date of entry: September 9, 2025
A rectangular clearing in a forest. The boundaries are marked off with a thin wooden fence around the sides. One of the trees outside the boundary has an orange cloth wrapped around its trunk.
Clearing in the De Paw forest at Huai E Khang village where children gather to learn Pga K'Nyaw traditions. Photograph by Alisa Santikarn.
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