Fast approaching the end of six months of travel—and getting ready for a much needed break on expedition—a strange twist of fate led us to a location that, in fact, should have been one of our first. Thailand was originally an early feature on the expedition trail. However, due to an ill-timed back injury plans were reshuffled, and Thailand was going to have to wait.
That was until a rare opportunity presented itself in the latter part of 2023. The stars aligned, and we were able to meet the Moken: a 4,000 year old tribe that lives on islands around Thailand and Myanmar (Burma). It was a special window where the team that has been working to preserve this tribe’s livelihood and culture for more than a decade were available to guide us for over a week. Meeting this community was a personal dream of mine for years.
When something like this happens, you have to trust your gut, upend your plans and hope that the decisions you are making net out the way you always hoped they would. Sometimes, you just have to go for it—regardless of the complications and chaos that might ensue when making changes to a global expedition around the world. The chaos was particularly bad for our Logistics & Planning Manager, Adam. His mission of getting us from one remote island to the next depends heavily on extensive planning well ahead of time.
When we received news about the Moken visit, we were based in the Andaman Islands of India, due to head west for the next stop in the Middle East. With no direct flights or boats from the Andamans to the Surin Islands (where this Moken community we were to visit resides) or anywhere in Thailand for that matter, there was no route that didn’t involve some amount of backtracking in order to press forward.
The first stage of our journey involved a flight from Port Blair in the Andamans followed by a layover in Kolkata, India for nearly seven hours. From Kolkata, we flew to Bangkok and were due for a full night layover before our next flight to the remote airport of Ranong on the west Thai coast. A big 48 hours of travel, but that was only on paper. Following a couple of back-to-back, multi-hour flight delays lending to a very late evening arrival in Bangkok, coupled with a lost bag and a lot of time spent trying to recover said bag, our initial full night layover was whittled down to a mere three hours of power napping at a nearby airport hotel.
Fortunately, that final flight to Ranong went smoothly, but we weren’t quite finished yet. There was still one hour of driving down the coast, followed by a two-hour ferry from mainland Thailand to our final destination of Surin Island. It was fair to say when we finally laid eyes on these gorgeous islands for the first time, there was a collective sigh of relief from the team. The hustle of the preceding 48 hours seemed to wash away in an instant.
As was expected on the Edges of Earth expedition, we would be sleeping beachside in eco-tents for the next week, completely surrounded by the wilds of Thailand. Physically and emotionally exhausted, our first night in the tents we were out cold. But over the next five nights, we all laid awake dealing with a wide variety of surprising situations.
We’d received countless signs pointing us to Thailand prior to our arrival. But now that we were finally here, we were receiving just as many telling us it was time to go. Perhaps it was the spirits we met in New Caledonia and Solomon Islands resurfacing for one last encounter before our expedition break. Or perhaps it was the price you pay for being on the road, relentlessly working and traveling for 6 months straight. After all, things are bound to fall apart at some point.
It all started with diving. Venturing out on a longtail boat with two members from the Moken community named Tard and Sutat, as well as our guide/translator Tui, we were exploring this community’s local coral reef sites. Knowing how overrun Thailand is with tourists, we were surprised by the resilience and health of the reefs surrounding the Surin Islands. This area is highly regulated and guarded by the National Park, conducting beach and reef clean ups and employing a full dive team to maintain the ocean ecosystems. And even so, Tard and Sutat told us that this was nothing in comparison to what they grew up with—reef systems so vibrant you could see their colors from the beach.
Not fully processing what exactly she meant by that, we plunged into the Moken’s water and swam for hours. Each site was more exciting than the next, as Sutat led us around his home. We had heard rumors that scuba and freediving was a dysfunctional ordeal in Thailand given the tourism influx year after year. And to be honest, it was something we came into the country wanting to completely avoid. But here on Surin Islands, alongside our newfound friends who are masters of these waters, as they historically were ocean nomads, we found ourselves doing the thing we said we wouldn’t do: diving in Thailand. It was peaceful, quiet and unexpected, given there are 11 million people that visit the country per year.
However, the serenity firmly ended as soon as we stepped foot on land. Tui and I were covered with uncomfortable small bumps all over our bodies—from hands all the way to feet. We began itching immediately upon drying off, with red bump clusters starting to form everywhere. I now knew what she meant when she said STING. We had a solid case of “sea lice” and its aftermath was wreaking havoc.
There are two different types of sea lice. Those that attack humans and those that do not. The first type of sea lice are actually small crustaceans (copepods) and not “true” lice we typically envision when thinking of these creatures. They are marine ectoparasites, primarily feeding on the mucus, epidermal tissue, and blood of host fish, especially salmon. While their name might imply a threat to humans, particularly to those who grew up with bouts of hair lice from time to time, sea lice are actually more of a concern for fish populations.
But then there’s the other misleading example of "sea lice" often mentioned in reference to jellyfish larvae stings. These irritations are caused by the larvae of certain species, including the thimble jellyfish, and actually have nothing to do with the hair lice we love to hate. When humans encounter these larvae in the ocean, they can experience a stinging sensation followed by an itchy rash, commonly known as "sea bather's eruption."
This reaction occurs because the larvae, which are microscopic, get trapped against the skin by tight-fitting gear, and release their stingers as a defense mechanism. This usually happens in warmer waters where jellyfish larvae are more prevalent. And that’s what went down on the Surin Islands.
At first, the areas were just red and irritated. But that night, in my hot, sweaty, and very tiny tent, the stings began to live up to their namesake and, well, “erupt.” My entire body felt as if it was on fire, with bumps spreading all up and down my hands. The eruption meant that the prospect of sleeping was completely unrealistic. So, for the next few nights that followed—after at best two hours of interrupted sleep each attempt—I would wake up and make my way to the beach to try and calm the itch.
For the rest of our time in Thailand, the sea lice had taken over my body and the rash was raging. But it wasn’t just these guys that got me good. There was another, far worse creature that I crossed paths with during one of my few showers on the campground.
Expedition life has opened our hearts and minds to the varied methods of showering around the world. From bitterly cold water, to single stream flows, to low pressure trickles, fresh water bucket rinses, salt water dunks in the ocean, and everything in between. The places we’ve explored have shown us all different types of bathrooms and bathing styles, teaching us to embrace the fact that any shower is a good one. Here on the Surin Islands, Tui and I were welcoming the cold showers, as it was a moment of peace from the burning itch.
After another sleepless night, I was collecting myself to go and shower. Heading over to the closed off outdoor stall, nothing was unusual about this shower situation. That was, until all of a sudden, I felt something fall on my back and start MOVING DOWN MY SPINE.
Knowing how badly these bites hurt, and having been warned about centipedes since pretty much day one of our expedition, I felt my heart rate double. Swiping and swinging in what might have looked like some unorthodox and panicked yoga movements, the insect finally dislodged and fell to the floor. I ran out of the shower stall, naked and afraid. Realizing that I was fully in the nude, I went back into the stall, attempted to put on clothes, before rushing back to the tent as fast as I could.
Caught up in the moment, and entirely repulsed, I wasn’t watching where I was going. Barging right into a rope clothesline at neckline height, almost decapitating myself as I fell to the ground. It was right then and there that I realized it was time for this expedition chapter to come to a close. We had surely overstayed our welcome in the Surin islands!
My hands were swelling and I was looking like a wild animal had been nibbling on me for days. My body was battered and bruised from the many other things it has endured over the prior six months. But even despite this, I wouldn’t change a thing about our time on the edges of earth.
Both Marla and Adam faced similar pangs and ailments while in Thailand. Adam had a raging fever and was pushing through his first bout of illness since being on expedition. Marla was the unfortunate victim of having her luggage lost in transit, so she was wearing Adam’s clothes instead (yes they wear the same size). And all of our clothes desperately needed a bit of laundry soup by this point.
We had our moments of complaining, as that’s just human nature. But by and large, we all could appreciate that these are the things you sign up for when going on a multi-year exploration around the world. Sleeping outside and exploring the sea are two of our favorite things, regardless of what might bite, sting or crawl on you!
It makes us emotional to think we’ve made it through 16 stops of our 24 month expedition, as they’ve truly flown by. We’ve learned so much about what it takes to live on the edges of earth, and what that phrase actually means to us. Every chapter of this expedition has opened our eyes to new ways of thinking, living and being. It’s made us appreciate the little things, relish our time spent in nature—regardless of the good, bad and the ugly times.
After our two weeks in Thailand, it was clear it was our time to go back to our respective homes and recharge. Heal the bites, tend to the wounds, and open our hearts and minds to what wild was coming for us in the new year.
To be continued …
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!
Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
