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In the narrow mountain valleys of Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau provinces of North Vietnam the Tai remain a very noticeable and confident minority. They are divided into White Tai and Black Tai communities, while further south, by the Lao frontier in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An Provinces, Red Tai predominate.<br/><br/> These subgroups are distinguished by the dress of their women. Vietnam’s Tai are people of the mountain valleys. Farming wet rice paddy fields they are relatively prosperous, enjoying more security and an appreciably higher standard of living than the people of the mountaintops. They are culturally confident, too, and well known throughout the north for their fine weaving and embroidery, sophisticated music and dance, as well as their business acumen in the marketplace.<br/><br/> Closely related to the neighbouring Lao, Thai, Shan of Burma and Dai of China’s Yunnan Province, they have lived for centuries in the fertile uplands between the Truong Son and Hoang Lien ranges – certainly long before the region became part of Vietnam – and have a rich literary legacy and folklore.
In the narrow mountain valleys of Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau provinces of North Vietnam the Tai remain a very noticeable and confident minority. They are divided into White Tai and Black Tai communities, while further south, by the Lao frontier in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An Provinces, Red Tai predominate.<br/><br/> These subgroups are distinguished by the dress of their women. Vietnam’s Tai are people of the mountain valleys. Farming wet rice paddy fields they are relatively prosperous, enjoying more security and an appreciably higher standard of living than the people of the mountaintops. They are culturally confident, too, and well known throughout the north for their fine weaving and embroidery, sophisticated music and dance, as well as their business acumen in the marketplace.<br/><br/> Closely related to the neighbouring Lao, Thai, Shan of Burma and Dai of China’s Yunnan Province, they have lived for centuries in the fertile uplands between the Truong Son and Hoang Lien ranges – certainly long before the region became part of Vietnam – and have a rich literary legacy and folklore.
In the narrow mountain valleys of Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau provinces of North Vietnam the Tai remain a very noticeable and confident minority. They are divided into White Tai and Black Tai communities, while further south, by the Lao frontier in Thanh Hoa and Nghe An Provinces, Red Tai predominate.<br/><br/> These subgroups are distinguished by the dress of their women. Vietnam’s Tai are people of the mountain valleys. Farming wet rice paddy fields they are relatively prosperous, enjoying more security and an appreciably higher standard of living than the people of the mountaintops. They are culturally confident, too, and well known throughout the north for their fine weaving and embroidery, sophisticated music and dance, as well as their business acumen in the marketplace.<br/><br/> Closely related to the neighbouring Lao, Thai, Shan of Burma and Dai of China’s Yunnan Province, they have lived for centuries in the fertile uplands between the Truong Son and Hoang Lien ranges – certainly long before the region became part of Vietnam – and have a rich literary legacy and folklore.
A hand-drawn, hand-coloured watercolour from the late 19th century by an unknown Burmese artist.<br/><br/> The name of the ethnic group featured appears near the top of the picture in Shan script (left), Burmese script (Centre) and Khun script (right). Khun script was formerly used in Kengtung / Kyaingtong in eastern Shan State and in Lan Na or Lanna, northern Thailand.<br/><br/> The Tai ethnicity refers collectively to the ethnic groups of southern China and Southeast Asia, stretching from Hainan to eastern India and from southern Sichuan to Laos, Thailand, and parts of Vietnam, which speak languages in the Tai family and share similar traditions and festivals, including the water festival. Despite never having a unified nation-state of their own, the peoples also have historically shared a vague idea of a "Siam" nation, corrupted to Shan or Assam in some places.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
The ‘Sea Gypsies’ or Moken of the Andaman Sea, known in Thai as chao thalae or ‘people of the sea’, are divided into three groups. They number between 4,000 and 5,000, they live only on the coast, either in huts by the shore, or on craft that ply the coastal waters from the Mergui Archipelago in Burma to the Tarutao Islands in Southern Thailand.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/>The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/>Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/>The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/>The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
The ‘Sea Gypsies’ or Moken of the Andaman Sea, known in Thai as chao thalae or ‘people of the sea’, are divided into three groups. They number between 4,000 and 5,000, they live only on the coast, either in huts by the shore, or on craft that ply the coastal waters from the Mergui Archipelago in Burma to the Tarutao Islands in Southern Thailand.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/>The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/>Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/>The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/>The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/>The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/>Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/>The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/>The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
The ‘Sea Gypsies’ or Moken of the Andaman Sea, known in Thai as chao thalae or ‘people of the sea’, are divided into three groups. They number between 4,000 and 5,000, they live only on the coast, either in huts by the shore, or on craft that ply the coastal waters from the Mergui Archipelago in Burma to the Tarutao Islands in Southern Thailand.
The ‘Sea Gypsies’ or Moken of the Andaman Sea, known in Thai as chao thalae or ‘people of the sea’, are divided into three groups. They number between 4,000 and 5,000, they live only on the coast, either in huts by the shore, or on craft that ply the coastal waters from the Mergui Archipelago in Burma to the Tarutao Islands in Southern Thailand.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.
Ko Surin Marine National Park is one of Thailand’s last frontiers for diving and sailing. This marine park in the Andaman Sea contains some of the country’s most highly developed coral reefs.<br/><br/> The Koh Surin archipelago is a 135 square kilometre area lying in the Andaman Sea some 60 kilometres (38 miles) off mainland Ranong Province. The park’s five islands lie just south of the border with Burma.<br/><br/> Koh Surin Nua, one of the two main islands, has an area of about 19 square kilometres, with 240 metres its highest elevation.<br/><br/> The other main island, Koh Surin Tai, is about 12 square kilometres, and 350 metres at its highest point. The two islands are separated by a narrow strait, only 200 metres wide, which may be waded at low tide. Both are hilly, with almost no flat ground beyond small pockets of mangrove and little beaches which nestle in the many coves.<br/><br/> The other islands in the group are more properly speaking only rocky islets, sparely covered with scrub vegetation. Koh Surin was uninhabited till about the time of the Second World War. Even after it was declared a national park, in 1981, there were only a few hundred people to relocate. Today, park officials have a station on Koh Surin Nua, while Koh Surin Tai is home to a tiny Moken (Sea Gypsy) fishing community.