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Moken Boat There are more than 800 islands in the Mergui Archipelago. The islands are a part of the Burmese (Myanmar) Province of Tenasserim (Tanithary). Some of the islands are quite large. Lanbi Island, now a National Park stretches for more than 70km. Most of the islands are uninhabited, visited only by local fishermen and the Moken, one of the few remaining groups of sea-gypsies in the world. The Moken live in family groups on boats made from hollowing out large trees. They roam the archipelago collecting mollusks in the tidal flats, diving for shells and foraging for other food on the islands. They are said to be last survivors of the original people of Southeast Asia who took refuge on boats when the continent was submerged by 100 meters of water after the end of the last ice age, approximately 10,000 years ago. The coast of Tenasserim has always been sparsely inhabited, but by a wide variety of people including the Burmese, Mons, Karens, Thais, Malays, Chinese and descendents of British, Portuguese, Indians and Arabs. For additional information send email to info@marinasia.com | |||||
