THE MOKEN 'SEA GYPSIES'
The Moken are an indigenous people who live on the Surin Islands, about 60 kilometers off the coast of Thailand. They make their living from the sea, catching fish and also scavenging from the sea floor.
Recent scientific tests have shown that the underwater eyesight of Moken children is more than 50 percent better than the underwater eyesight of European children. The Moken have somehow trained their eyes to focus much more clearly underwater in order for them to catch fish and pick things from the sea floor.
Known as "sea gypsies," they have long led a nomadic life, drifting between the islands off the coasts of Burma and Thailand. Now it is very difficult for them to go over the Thai/Burmese border, and a ban has been placed on the cutting of trees on the Surin Islands, making it impossible for them to build the boats they need to travel.
The Surin Islands are part of a Thai national park. While the park provides some of men with work, it also places large restrictions on the Moken and uses them as a tourist attraction. They are only allowed to fish for subsistence, and are not allowed to sell shells or anything else picked from the coral or the sea floor. Also the presence of so many tourists has introduced them to alcohol, cigarettes, plastic and other modern items.
The Moken find themselves in somewhat of a dilemma: They are a simple, nomadic people without any interest or need of "first-world" luxuries (there is no word for "want" in their language), but they
nonetheless find themselves being brought into contact with the developed world.
They also find themselves being controlled by the Thai authorities, although they claim no citizenship of any country. The Thai government is now taking steps to recognise the Moken as Thai citizens. As the Moken have no family names, they are proposing that the whole tribe of 200 people on the Surin Islands be given the same family name, which roughly translates into English as "Hero of the Sea."
All the Moken survived the tsunami following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. According to news reports, as soon as they saw the sea begin to recede, they fled to higher ground. Their villages, located on the beaches of the islands, were destroyed. Having no written language, they relied on the words of their ancestors, who said that if the sea ever retreated a great distance, it would come back and swallow everything in its path.
These photographs were taken three weeks before the Tsunami.
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