Moken Lobong full moon celebrations

Since the tsunami the Moken Sea Gypsy way of life has been documented, photographed, reported and filmed by TV crews and journalists over and over again. It's not the first time articles and TV crews have investigated the Moken way of life, but it's never been so intense or so widely reported around the globe. To find out more about the Moken Sea Gypsy way of life do a google search. You'll find many well written articles and great information. I'm not an expert, so I won't even attempt to write about their culture and lives. But I do have some unique experiences. Some better than others, but none I regret.

Our little ngo was delivering rice and fresh veggies and a boat to the village on what happened to be the Annual Lobong full moon celebration.



Rice onboard. Enough rice for 60 families for several months required a rather large boat to transport out to the Surin islands.

We would spend 4 days and 3 nights on board. Travelling to and from the Moken village by longtail boat during the day. The nights were hot so my best friend Nicole and I slept on top of the boat, literally. It was awkward climbing up and down, especially in the dark of night. Spectacular sunsets were the norm in the evening.





The animist Moken worship by feasting, dancing, singing and putting themselves into a trance. This lasts for several days and is capped by the release at sea of a token Moken boat. On board are spirit sticks which look similar to small totem polls and are supposed to take away all the bad sprits of the year.



Symbolic spirit boat



For me the most joyous moments were playing with the Moken children on. The photo shoot that caught the following photos happened spontaneously. The way I like it. One of the Moken children noticed I had a camera and he made sure I understood he wanted me to take photos. With a digital camera came instant gratification. Of course all the children had to see each new photo at once. Each shot meant I ended up covered in children trying to see the little screen.






The two leaders. The little guy on the left did all the directing. He lined up the children in different groups. Some were obviously his best buddies or part of the 'gang' as they got more photo time exposure than some others.



The little girls were more shy than the boys. But even for them sometimes it was hard to keep a straight face.




Moken Children feel the dent in Chris' back. He lost 4" in height due to a car accident. The tattoo on his back is amazing, but it was his scars that fascinated the children the most.



The boss gets the chair.



He was a serious little fellow.

As the Lobong celebration came to an end and we prepared to head back to the mainland, some 30 or so Moken villagers climbed aboard our boat. It's fairly usual for the Moken to hop on board boats returning to the mainland. Many have relatives there and it's an opportunity to make a visit. But we also had some very sick young children and older villagers. Our task was to get them to the mainland, then drive them to a clinic in Ranong. It was a clinic they were comfortable visiting, they knew the doctor and knew there wouldn't be questions about nationality or citizenship. Most Moken don't have any citizenship and therefore don't get free medical aid. Our ngo covered their doctor and presciprtions costs. Transport was one pick up truck and a car. The most seriously ill came with me in the car, while the remainder travelled in the back of the pickup truck. It was a mostly silent trip, communication being by sign language as my passengers didn't speak English and I didn't speak Moken.

The return trip to Kuraburi takes about an hour and a half. With monsoon rains pouring down, the passengers in the back of the pick up truck only had straw mats to cover them. They were soaked. Most then chose to sleep at the Kuraburi pier, waiting for the morning boat back to Ko surin.