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2000s: A man goes in search of an island where so-called ‘sea gypsies’ live
All at Sea
What you need to know before your trail
On the small island of Surin, near the naval border of Thailand and Myanmar, an indigenous people known as Moken ‘sea gypsies’ struggle to maintain the same timeless existence as their ancestors.
As real estate developers, oil exploration and industrial tourism reshape the waters they call home, Sayarer receives a mysterious offer from an idealistic Luxembourger determined to tell a tale of the Moken on film, and in search of a writer to detail the efforts of his motley crew.
Travel Guide
Travel BookTrail style to the small islands of Surin
The Surin Islands is an archipelago of five islands in the Andaman Sea. They are located some 60 km from the Thai mainland and administratively belong to Thailand . Mu Ko Surin National Park encompasses the islands and their surrounding waters.
Surin Nuea
This is the main island which is home to a community of around 150 Moken, or “sea gypsies”. These people have settled there on a semi-permanent basis and have been there for several decades. They spend much of their lives on boats, called “kabang” and survive mainly through the gathering of shellfish and other marine life from the reefs etc which they then sell. This is technically illegal but the authorities tend to igmore this as their population size is considered negligible and their overall situation too complicated.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: All at Sea
Destination: Island of Surin Author/guide: Julian Sayarer Departure Time: 2000s
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