Drifting with Burma's Sea Gypsies (Part 4)
Paddling with the Mergui Archipelago’s Moken Boat Nomads
Blue Magazine March 2003

The archipelago's namesake is the port town of Mergui, located at the mouth of a mainland river at the northern end of the territory. Portuguese, Dutch, English and French traders arrived in the 16th century when Mergui became a vital trade link between India and the Far East (China and Japan). It successively came under the jurisdiction of the Burmese, the Siamese and the British. Mergui was the entry and exit point for the Tenasserim River and land shortcut for caravans crossing the narrow peninsula belonging to Siam - now shared by Thailand and Burma. Though faster than circumventing Malaysia, this shortest caravan route between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea was an ordeal replete with bugs, leeches, tigers, impenetrable jungle and monsoon flooding.
 

This route avoided the treacherous sail around the southern tip of the Malacca Straits (the channel between Malaysia and Singapore) from Madras to Ayutthaya, which could take up to six months due to unfavorable wind, storms, pirates and the dominating Portuguese. - Mergui's overland pass took three weeks.

Goods from both sides of the Malaysian peninsula were traded in Ayutthaya - then the capital of Siam, north of modern Bangkok. Small ships could navigate the Tenasserim River to an overland transship route through the hills to the Gulf of Thailand. Once a critical link in world trade, the passageway has been reclaimed by dense jungle.

Trade flourished when Siam owned both coasts during the 16th and 17th centuries. Mergui could accommodate larger ships exporting war elephants, china, local porcelain, spices and silk. Mergui transformed into a noted pirate stronghold in the 17th century, the chief figure being Englishman Sam White, a renegade from Britain's East India Company. During the period, White became harbormaster and the times of freebooters and pirates rampaged. Later, the Siamese massacred the foreign traders and closed their borders to outsiders.

War later broke out between Burma and Siam and the Burmese gained control of Tenasserim Province. In 1760, the port of Mergui came under Burmese rule. The British secured the Straits of Malacca and founded Penang and Singapore, and the Mergui Archipelago went silent again. The only inhabitants within these 10,000 square miles, the Moken Sea Gypsies, were "overlooked" except by passing mariners and pirates - who scared everyone else away.

When the British took over in 1826, as their initial settlement after the first Burmese War, they found the archipelago virtually uninhabited. Two hundred years of war (alien and guerilla) between Siam/Thailand and Burma had sent the once prosperous population of Mergui and Tenasserim back to their respective homelands.

In 1989, Mergui was renamed "Meik," which like "Myanmar" doesn't seem to be wholly catching on.

Mangroves bring southern US swamps to mind. They also crawl over the brackish island zones in the midst of the Andaman Sea that separates India and Indo-China. Pinched in a canyon between two islands is an encircled body of water named Salet Galet (Saled Gah-let). This lake-like zone between Lampi and Wa Ale Kyunn islands is the domain of flying fish who buzz around like skipped stones on a strong tidal flow into dense Rhizophora Tree mangroves. We timed to ride high tide into mangrove tunnels and exit on low-tide using myriad channels of vine encased, mineshaft-like highways and side roads. Kayaks allow you to quietly sneak up on hornbills and macaque monkeys. We were much quieter than the ecosystem's natural croaking and popping chorus that is roused by two tides per day.

Lingering within a mangrove root church is simple in substance and easy to view, but provides the kind of satisfaction that is not simple to write.

It became easier to understand Tham's (our Burmese guide) cautious manner upon fathoming that leopards, tigers and crocodiles hunt for snacks... We saw a posse of wild monkeys fishing by flipping rocks exposed by low tide in search of oysters, crabs and crustaceans. There was now no doubt that we were out there.

Visitable half the year, this zone experiences heavy monsoon. The region will likely become a popular cruising and diving destination - hopefully learning an example from Thailand's Phuket Island over development folly. A good start was Lampi Island being declared a national park in 1996.

Another reality of a controlling government is no Internet - some upscale hotels provide an email service not allowing attachments or Internet connection.

Though they are predominantly Buddhist countries, Thai and Burmese languages are dissimilar - they communicate in English.

Since Burma reopened its borders, overland borders are periodically closed without notice, usually due to problems with Northern Thailand. The southern border crossing (Ranong, Thailand - Kawthaung, Burma) that accesses the Mergui closed for three months until October 1999 due to Thai-Burmese fishing zone conflicts.

In this region you must be accompanied by a government-appointed Burmese guide. Also needed is a guide ($25/day) from Kawthaung to Mergui (but not from Mandaly or Yangoon). English/Thai expatriate family-run SEAL is helping to intelligently negotiate the future of tourism in the Mergui Archipelago with officials in Yangon (formerly Rangoon).

Malaria is an everyday reality in this part of the world. And in the tropics, minor insect bites, nicks and scratches can transform into infected open welts that bore inward to the bone. At dusk and dawn, you should wear a long sleeve shirt and long trousers and spray yourself with insect repellent (DEET brand name OFF is a good one) whilst in Kawthoung, in the evenings at the safari camp and/or beach barbecues, and whilst jungle trekking. You should consult your doctor regarding vaccinations, etc. Comprehensive travel insurance recommended.

"The society was a success, but the government was a failure." - Europe's view

Recommended reading: Siamese White, by Maurice Collis. Current reprint by AVA Publishing, Thailand. ISBN 974-89403-7-3

The Moken Boat: Symbolic Technology, by Jacques Ivanoff, Jacques, White Louts Press, Thailand

Moken - Post War Chronicles & Moken Boat by Jacques Ivanoff, White Lotus Press (coming soon - Rings of Coral: Moken Folktales).

How to Get in There: At this point in history you can't visit this region without one of a limited number of outfitters - I recommend:

SEAL
225 Rat U Thit Rd, Patong Beach, Phuket 83150, Thailand.
E mail: info@seal asia.com
http://www.seal-asia.com