The Moken Sea Gypsies - Oliver Groom

This tribe lives on the Surin Islands off the coast of Thailand.

They mainly eat fish and rice but will happily drink any fizzy pop they acquire. Their tribe is a seafaring one with a long history dating back centuries. Although they could move to the mainland they choose to follow tradition and live off the land and sea.

They mainly live on one beach within reed houses on long poles so that the tide dosn't dislodge them.

The Moken tribe is a sea-fairing nomadic one. They live off the seafood they catch and plants they find on their island. They have a basic lifestyle with men catching and killing prey. While the women stay back at the village and care for children, make clothes and prepare food.

The children of the tribe go to a school (a straw hut with a sand floor) where they learn maths, literacy, to tell the time and to speak basic English. There is a basic medical hut within their village which uses herbs and some modern medicines to cure illnesses.

When the boxing day tsunami struck in 2004 the reefs around their islands where decimated forcing the survivors from the tsunami to move to another location. However, since the tsunami life has gone back to normal and the Moken tribe has populated and become prosperous once again.