It’s not everyday that you meet people who selflessly put others first without question. Not just in their personal lives but in their professional lives as well. Today, in a world filled with consumerism, corporate greed and obsession with the like count, it’s hard to find the genuine. And yet, there we were, on a Thai island we never thought we’d be able to visit in our lifetimes, meeting someone who was exactly that: a selfless ecowarrior dedicated to helping others day in and day out.
Thamrong Chomphusri, or Tui for short, was our guide and campmate for a week as we consciously explored the Surin National Park in Thailand. Although having a guide within the park boundaries isn’t mandatory per se, in this instance, it completely and utterly changed our experience in a way that was more profound than we could have ever imagined.
There are 1,430 islands in Thailand’s territory, yet only 50 of them are home to humans. In fact, most are just rock formations with a few plants as their primary inhabitants. The Surin Islands are part of an archipelago on the west coast of Thailand in the Andaman Sea. They consist of five islands that are about 2 hours by boat (55-60 km) from the Thai mainland and just a mere 18 km from the Myanmar border. We were always drawn to this remote part of the world, wondering what’s out there on those islands on the edge.
That’s when we learned about Surin National Park, established to protect the two neighboring main islands called Ko Surin Nuea and Ko Surin Tai. The other islands, Ko Ri, Ko Khai and Ko Klang, are small, uninhabited islands, and prime territory for avid divers. Despite these islands lacking typical human infrastructure and amenities, their open season from November - April each year hosts a huge influx of visitors, namely divers. They typically see an average of 450-800 guests per day, according to the National Park’s record.
In Thailand’s broader tourism narrative, these numbers are actually quite low for a country seeing 11 million visitors during its peak season. But Surin National Park has rules and regulations that combat overcrowding, and put a heavy emphasis on closing the park during monsoon season to ensure wildlife has a chance to breathe, while also ensuring the safety of visitors from the hazards that come with the rainy season in Thailand.
The Moken are peaceful, indigenous people of the Andaman Sea, encompassing the coastal regions of Myanmar and Thailand. They formerly lacked any ties to any modern sovereign governmental bodies and were considered stateless ocean nomads, roaming the seas for 4,000 years. With no lands to technically call their own, (and little concept of land ownership in the first place), the ocean has always been home to the Moken. And this has made them particularly attuned to the sustainability of marine ecosystems.
Skilled freedivers and spearfishers, the Moken historically have lived on house boats called “kabang.” The boat’s hulls are handcrafted out of a single large wood log, a process which involves hollowing out the log on one side and bending and broadening the edges in different stages. The whole process is lengthy, and reaches its completion over a period of many months.
In the wake of the devastation from the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Myanmar and Thai authorities mandated the relocation of the Moken to areas of the Government’s choosing. One location included Koh Surin (or Surin National Park) which is the only location on the planet where outsiders can meet the 270 Moken who permanently live in Thailand.
This transition further exposed them to the detrimental impacts of mainstream society, pushing them away from their former lives of complete sustainability. As a result, they were introduced to the concept of capitalism, and were often recruited to work on commercial fishing boats because of their exceptional diving skills. And unfortunately, many of their employers have taken advantage of their unusual circumstances. Their pay is extraordinarily low and they are subjected to life-altering dangers on a daily basis.
To further supplement this new concept of “income,” they started manufacturing small bracelets, wood carvings and other trinkets for sale to visitors as one of the few ways to earn a living in the National Park. Today, many Moken across both Thailand and Myanmar find themselves confined to impoverished island bases, witnessing the erosion of their traditional society.
The integration into Thai society, in particular, has been fraught with obstacles for the Moken. Due to economic hardship, limited education opportunities and stigmatization and a lack of understanding of their nomadic heritage, they are facing an uphill battle.These issues not only contribute to the deterioration of community cohesion but also lead to problems such as alcoholism and drug use. In Koh Surin, economic struggles are severe, compounded by the fact that many Moken lack birth certificates or passports, restricting their mobility and heightening the risks associated with travel between the islands of Thailand and Myanmar.
But this is where Tui enters the scene with Andaman Discoveries—a dedicated organization that emerged in the wake of the 2004 tsunami. Tui, alongside the organization's founder, Bodhi Garret, have put serious effort into helping the Moken adapt while preserving and restoring their legacy. Since 2011, Andaman Discoveries has been instrumental in building a bridge between the Moken's traditional ways and the modern world.
By fostering a partnership based on trust and mutual respect, Bodhi and Tui have developed programs that not only allow the Moken to engage with tourism, but do so in a way that empowers their community. This collaboration has been pivotal in reshaping the Moken's day-to-day lives, ensuring that while they navigate the challenges of their new normal, they do not lose sight of their heritage and traditions.
As Tui explained it to us, there are two different aspects to the work that she does. There’s the social enterprise work (Andaman Discoveries) and then there’s the nonprofit efforts (the North Andaman Network Foundation, or for short, NAN). Over the last decade, this collective has worked intimately with the Moken, learning their customs, establishing trust, and generating community-beneficial opportunities.
Gaining the trust of the Moken demanded considerable patience and dedication. And because of that, she and the rest of the dual teams are the only ones working with the Moken in this way in Thailand. Andaman Discoveries has become a vital support system for the Moken, championing their interests daily—which is something we personally witnessed while consciously exploring the National Park. The mutual respect between Tui and the Moken offered a glimpse of a hope for this community, all underpinned by sustainable tourism practices in Koh Surin.
So, here’s how it works. Andaman Discoveries bridges the gap between tourists and the community, offering immersive experiences that showcase the Moken's traditional ways of life. Some of these activities include learning to weave with recycled materials, bush hiking to learn about their medicinal plants, traditional spearfishing demonstrations, and learning how to maneuver their traditional boats.
Meanwhile, NAN empowers Moken to develop and manage sustainable programs, facilitating their access to outside support. Initiatives like mangrove planting, marine plastics recycling and educational scholarships are examples of how the nonprofit focuses its effort. The aim is to equip the Moken with the skills necessary for their community’s advancement and the preservation of their environment.
Through these endeavors, Andaman Discoveries and NAN are helping the Moken develop the tools and knowledge to sustain their unique way of life amidst changing times.
But there was one aspect of the Moken life we were particularly interested in learning more about: their freediving abilities. The Moken’s remarkable freediving skills are equal parts a blessing and a curse for them. Developed through generations living on the water, their freediving expertise is a testament to their deep-rooted connection with the sea. Historically, the Moken's unique perspective on ownership and rights has made it challenging for them to advocate for their maritime lifestyle amidst external pressures that push them towards a more conventional existence. As a result, their extraordinary skills have been at risk of fading into obscurity and extinction.
“Andaman Discoveries play a big role in helping to preserve the Moken's freediving heritage through community-based tourism,” Tui explained as we made our way to meet our Moken freedive and kabang guides, Tard Klatalay and Sutat Klatalay. These two men were going to not only show us their techniques, but also teach us how to spearfish off of the very last remaining kabang houseboat within their community.
These two men had such a deep understanding of the sea's ecology, a keen sense of navigation and were extremely tapped into sustainable fishing practices. While Sutat navigated around the islands and showed us his favorite spots, Tard let us spend time on the kabang that he had handcrafted himself, taking us out for sunset views. He also had to teach us how to get on and off this wooden masterpiece, a surprisingly difficult feat to board and deboard, even for people who spend more time on boats than on land.
In talking with Tard, Sutat and other elders within the community, they all had come to accept their new, sedentary lifestyle. They recognized the importance of collaborating with Andaman Discoveries not only as a means to preserve their rich cultural heritage but also as a viable way to sustain themselves through conscious tourism. It was clear that the partnership between the community and Tui represented a crucial lifeline, offering one of the only opportunities to keep their traditions alive while adapting to modern realities.
It's important for those visiting to understand that access to the Moken community on Koh Surin is not something that is automatically granted, but rather a privilege that is facilitated through the correct channels. Engagement is carefully arranged through Tui, who organizes the most sustainable tours that contribute DIRECTLY to the Moken's welfare and support community-based programs. This structured approach to tourism ensures that the benefits are felt immediately by the Moken, aiding in the continuation of their cultural practices and the community's overall sustainability.
After a week living among the Moken, it was hard to say goodbye. We left Koh Surin wondering when we’d cross paths again with Tui, Tard, Sutat, and the other members of the community we were so fortunate to meet. The amount of selflessness we saw on the shores of their island left us deeply contemplating what really matters at the end of the day, giving us a new perspective to tourism and a deep love for those who call Thailand’s sea and shores home.
If you are wondering how you can truly assist the Moken both now and in the future, the most important thing we can emphasize is the respectful engagement with this community. When we travel to places that are by no means close to home, it’s not just about observing but also actively participating in and contributing to those communities we visit. By immersing ourselves in the Moken way of life, we learned valuable lessons in sustainability and resilience, which in turn has fostered a deeper connection and understanding with the natural world around us.
This approach goes beyond traditional tourism, emphasizing the need to contribute positively to the places and people we encounter.
Not to mention, if you want to make a significant impact, give your tourism dollars to educational and conservation initiatives that benefit the Moken community. Investing in programs that empower them to manage their resources, advocate for their rights, and preserve their culture is one of the best ways to help. This includes backing efforts that teach sustainable practices and enabling Moken people to gain knoweldge and skills that can be applied to improve their community's well-being.
Our time on Koh Surin was an utterly breathtaking one. The experience was not only a visual wonder and yet another excellent diving experience, but also forced us to really look inward in an unprecedented way. It had us examine our relationships with the natural world, consider an alternative and ancient way of being, and had us look deeply at our own roles within the landscape of modern society.
The Moken are some truly fascinating and highly skilled people who spent their lives untethered from the land and woes of modernity. Living alongside them truly made us question if the idea of “progress” in the modern world is really all it’s cracked up to be. Not a day goes by where we don’t think about our friends at Andaman Discoveries and the Moken community we met. Until our paths cross again, dear friends, we are always thinking of you.
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