The water was their livelihood. Now Thailand’s sea nomads work to preserve a vanishing way of life

Associated Press

SURIN ISLANDS, Thailand (AP) — 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. Colloquially known as sea nomads, they lived aboard boats called kabangs for months at a time, and got sustenance from the sea. They became known to the world when they saved tourists from the powerful Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004. Today, with strict borders and limited ability to make the kabangs that are so central to their identity, the Moken are working on to hold onto their traditions against powerful forces of change.