Your Content Goes Here After a decade of absence, there is a Kabang sailing the North Andaman Coast again. Moving with the wind and waves, we embrace the past to look ahead. Trusting the same ancient knowledge that has guarded the Moken sea nomads for many centuries, we are sailing on the last Kabang houseboat to continue the legacy. The knowledge of the Moken has been passed down in stories and skills from generation to generation. My husband [...]

Your Content Goes Here The first houses are finished. A team of soldiers has been staying in the bay with the Moken, and together they have been working hard every day in the burning sun. The National Park has kindly been providing three hot meals a day for over a month now. At the moment there is a construction pause, as people wait for more material to be delivered. The village is [...]

Your Content Goes Here The use of land is the center of the ongoing struggle between the Moken people on Surin and the National Park. While Moken have an unwritten right by ancestry, the National Park claims with all written laws to protect the environment from people. After the 2004 Tsunami when the Moken were “asked” to merge their previous two villages into one single bay another big change occurred: the Moken were moved up on the beach. [...]

Your Content Goes Here Hook rushed to Bangkok on Monday to attend a meeting with the Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plants (DNP). The topic of the meeting was actually the issues facing an indigenous people living within a National Park in the Northern Thailand. However, as all many high level officials were present, it was the right space for Hook to let the voice of his people be heard. The DNP officials received Hook with an [...]

Your Content Goes Here According to an article in the Bangkok Post the fire that destroyed the Moken sea gypsies’ village on Surin should be an opportunity to re-evaluate the needs of the Moken people. “While the state deserves praises for swiftly acting to rebuild the Moken community in Ao Bon Yai on the Surin Islands that was devastated by a recent fire, the government should try to move beyond “conventional” charity affairs and focus on the dignity, [...]

Your Content Goes Here Moken Tribe of Seafaring People Ask to Expand Their Village, As Previous Structures Were Too Congested. Committee Member Agrees, Citing Their Ancestral Rights to the Land On 07 February, General Surin Pikulthong, in his role as a member of the Committee for the Affairs of Indigenous Peoples, held a press conference regarding restoration of the Moken village on Surin Island in Phang Nga province after a fire burned 60 homes, nearly consuming the entire [...]

Your Content Goes Here Community Members Call for Patience Amid Rush to Rebuild Moken Village on Koh Surin, Noting Densely Packed Homes Exacerbated Fire Conditions. New Proposal Seeks to Widen Layout to Ensure Future Safety for Villagers 11 February – Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.  The Network of Andaman Seafaring Ethnic People, represented by Mr. Wittawat Thepsong, submitted a proposal to Mr. Wicharn Simachaya, Secretary of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, who acts as Chairman [...]

Your Content Goes Here If there wasn’t this empty burned space in the middle of the Big Bon Bay, the set up tents would look like a cozy gathering. Shaded spaces are limited and so the tents accumulate under the available trees towards the right side of the bay. People line up in the hot sun to bath their children. There is currently only one water hose 200 meters off the main tent area. Food is delivered by [...]

Your Content Goes Here There has been an impressive national response to immediate fire disaster relief. Many different parties organized to help to the Moken people on Surin, who lost all their possessions after the fire and were left with only the clothing they wore that evening on February 3rd. The Thai Navy as well as the Mu Koh Surin National Park, who are both based around the Surin Islands provided for immediate needs and have been serving [...]

Your Content Goes Here This time it was not a tsunami but a fire, which took everything the Moken owned. No one was injured, but the village burned completely to the ground. “It is worse than after the Tsunami”, said Moken Suriyan Klathale, “because after the Tsunami one could at least search for missing things” Sunday evening, the 3rd of February, the sun has set. Children play in the sand between the houses, while inside the cole-stove is [...]