The water was their livelihood. Now Thailand's sea nomads work to preserve a vanishing way of life
The Moken, a group of indigenous people from Thailand and Myanmar, once sailed freely between the archipelago of 800 islands off the coast of the two countries
SURIN ISLANDS, Thailand (AP) — When Hook was a child, he started his days by jumping off the boat that his family lived on and into the ocean. By age 3, he could already swim and dive in shallow waters. His home was a kabang, a boat, that his family sailed in Thailand’s southern waters. The ocean was his backyard.
Now Hook, whose full name is Suriyan Klathale, lives on land like the rest of his community, a people known as the Moken. The recollections of his childhood, which many Moken of his generation still have, are mostly just memories.
The community, a group of indigenous people from Thailand and Myanmar, came to worldwide attention for its members' understanding of waves when the Indian Ocean Tsunami struck in December 2004 and killed more than 200,000 people. The few tourists who happened to be on the islands inhabited by the Moken survived because locals knew when they saw the water recede that people needed to get to higher ground.
Today, things are different and changing fast. This once free-sailing people have been grounded by powerful forces of change.
