From Tom Vater:
Photos: Aroon Thaewchatturat
The Moken sea gypsies of Ko Surin in Thailand, animist nomadic boat dwellers, have been sailing the Andaman Sea for centuries. Until last Sunday – when the big wave took everything they had – their village, their boats, their belongings.
The Moken knew the wave was coming and saved countless tourists. Eventually they were taken by police to the mainland where they have been lingering in a temple turned refugee camp since. Local powerbrokers are now deciding over their fate, squabbles have broken out about what should be done with them. The Moken want to return to Surin when it is safe.
Surin is utterly trashed but it is feasable to build a new village on a different beach on the islands.
If the Moken stay anywhere near this temple on the mainland, they will be forced to assimilate into Thai society – their unique culture wil be lost. Already there are grave concerns for the Moken kids running into the main road in front of the temple – they don’t know what cars are.
The Moken badly need money to buy new boats, kitchen ware and tools. The National Park will have them back if they can sustain themselves.
For this reason, I am trying to raise some funds for them, something I have never done before in my life. Spending several days with them in the refugee temple and going out to the islands to see the carnage, hearing real heroic tales of survival, I felt like I was observing an entire culture on the brink of extinction.
Please make a donation, to the UNESCO Andaman Pilot Project which has been active since 1997 to help the Moken help themselves. The lecturers and volunteers of this project, whom I have known since 1999, are trusted implicitly by the Moken. My wife Aroon , who lived with the Moken when I first met her, is in daily contact with the community and the UNESCO project.
Many thanks,
Tom