The following reflections were inspired by the questions asked through an interview by Biliana Boneva, a journalist from Bulgarian National Television: Hooks Reflections: Introducing myself: My name is Hook I am Moken. My parents saw the changes coming for the Moken and they felt the need to teach us both cultures. So, I grew up attending Thai school on the mainland while also learning the way of life of the Moken, living on the Kabang. I have seen the differences in [...]
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 Hook belongs to the last generation that was touched by the [...]
The Rains Have Come, The Park is Closed The National Park on Surin closed 5 days before the official end of the season due to bad weather. The Park is open for tourism from November to May, during the dry season. The tourism season is when Moken make most of their income, working 7 months of the year for the park, various speedboat companies, and jobs on the mainland. The monsoon is when the Moken come together, as the men returning from dry season employment [...]
All Moken have moved from their temporary shelters into new homes. In total there are 61 new identical houses, built of wooden beams and thatch walls. In addition to housing, the government has also provided bedding and basic kitchen items. As the hard-working soldiers have moved on, the villagers are finishing the last construction details by themselves such as the fence around the front porch and added a bamboo frame to stabilize the palm-leaf roofs. For the interior, Moken men are busy building racks and [...]
Although the houses are almost ready, they are still waiting for the third and final delivery of nipa palm leafs. The leafs are used to cover the roof and the sides of the houses. The authorities have been searching three different provinces for the leafs. There are many different types of nipa palm, but the ones they are searching for are of very good quality and harder to find in Thailand. When the second delivery of nipa palm leafs arrived in the National park boat [...]
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 a massive construction site with 60 skeletons that will soon be [...]
An article published by the Guardian recounts the burning of the Moken village on Koh Surin and its aftermath. As amenities are still lacking and must be shared among the 273 people whose homes were destroyed, “daily life is challenging.” After the incident, the park authorities and the Thai navy quickly stepped in to provide financial, material, and organizational assistance to the Moken. However, the article criticizes their rushed initiative to restore the village to its previous state. For one, crowding the many small huts, [...]
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. Prior to the tsunami, they built houses on stilts along the [...]
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 open mind and listened to his concern that the new village [...]
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, the quality of lives, and the actual needs of indigenous communities." [...]
