The story of Auntie Mon

[BigBangkokTheory]

The story of Auntie Mon

 

This is apparently a true story. I read it in a book of random stories and facts. The material is copyrighted so I wrote a shorter version in my own words. You can read the Wikipedia version here which contains links to articles and references.

 

In the year 1982, a Muslim woman named Jaeyaena Beuraheng, aged 51 and a mother of seven, left her home in Narathiwat Province of southern Thailand to go shopping across the border to Malaysia, which she did regularly.

 

 

After this shopping trip, she inadvertently boarded the wrong bus. She fell asleep, and upon waking, found herself in Bangkok. She did not speak Thai, and very few citizens in Bangkok could understand her Yawi (Malay) dialect. Confused and unable to obtain directions or read signs, she boarded another bus she thought was headed south. Unfortunately the bus was headed north and she ended up in Chiang Mai in the far north of the country!

 

 

Back in Narathiwat, her family reported Beuraheng missing. The police informed the family that a woman matching her description was hit and killed by a train. The body was barely identifiable, but believing their mother dead, the family stopped searching for her. Having resorted to begging to survive, five years later, Beuraheng was arrested in a restricted area of Chiang Mai. The police could not understand her words and took her to a homeless shelter in nearby Phitsanulok.

 

 

The staff at the homeless shelter believed her to be crazy, but Beuraheng was likeable, so they allowed her to stay. They dubbed her “Auntie Mon” because she sang a song that reminded the staff of the language of the ethnic Mon who resided on the Burma-Thai border.

 

Beuraheng spend another 20 years living at the homeless shelter. In 2007 some university students from Narathiwat were touring the shelter studying the local homeless problem. One of the students heard Auntie Mon singing and began conversing with her in Yawi, the first time she had had an understandable conversation since she boarded that wrong bus many years before! Elated, Beuraheng recounted her ordeal to the students and expressed how much she missed the family back home.

 

Auntie Mon’s family was understandably shocked when they heard the news that she was alive. The youngest son and eldest daughter went to retrieve her from Phitsanulok. Back home there was a huge celebration and Beuraheng recounted her incredible story to the news media. “I didn’t tell anybody where I was going that day, because I went there quite often. I thought I would die in Phitsanulok. I thought about running away many times, but then I worried I would not be able to make it home. I really missed my children”.

 

Now in her late 70s, Beuraheng lives with a much larger family which includes many grandchildren. She still sings the song that for many years she sang in the homeless shelter in Phitsanulok.

 

[Jaco2]

A moving tale. Thanks for sharing.

[gareth]

its a nice story , i dont know if its true or not , but doesnt anyone else wonder that after living 20 years she couldnt learn enough thai to explain herself

[BigBangkokTheory]

[JollyFisherman]

If she was kept in the homeless shelter where the mong were recently kept no wonder she didnt fancy escaping as it is in the middle of nowhere off the road from Pitsanaluk to Lomsak really is nothing for miles around

[cheang]

thanks for the interesting story!

[Buddy Edgewood]

Wow, that was a very touching story, indeed! Thanks for sharing!

[onenosite]

Thanks For a very nice story. Now if only I could get lost in LOS for a few years.

[Millard]

Though the story ended happily, it was a very sad tale. I hope she's living a good life now.

[Mavrick]

Amazing story and I'm really happy she made it home.

[T-T-T]

its a nice story , i dont know if its true or not , but doesnt anyone else wonder that after living 20 years she couldnt learn enough thai to explain herself

Spot on. After 20 years come on. Just goes to show dont beleive everything you read on wiki.

 

Nice story though, but didn't somebody in UK just get 10 years for a similar trick http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7133059.stm

Edited February 13, 2010 by T-T-T

[farang1]

Seriously doubt this is true. She would have been able to make contact with someone who spoke her language in LOS. Moreover, someone in one of the cities she was in would have realized that she was not native Thai and have alerted someone who could have helped.

[Rix619]

nice story but... in 20 years i think you have the time to learn how to read, write and speack any kind of language so... i think it's a good story, nothing more nothing less