Mu Ko Surin

Mu Ko Surin Marine National Park was created in 1981 in the Andaman Sea, in Phang Nga province, very close to the maritime border with Myanmar, and protects some 135 km² around five granite islands covered in rainforest.

Its fringing reefs are among the best preserved in Thailand, favoured by the isolation and by the absence of tourist development on the islands, where hotels are not allowed. The richness of coral and fish is high, and the waters are a passage area for whale shark and manta ray. The tsunami of December 2004 struck the islands hard and damaged part of the reefs, which have been recovering under scientific monitoring, although bleaching episodes from the warming sea are now the main threat.

The islands are also home to a Moken community, the sea nomad people of the Andaman who have traditionally lived on boats and in seasonal coastal settlements, with an extraordinary knowledge of the sea. Their reaction during the 2004 tsunami was widely cited: they correctly read the withdrawal of the water from their oral tradition and climbed to high ground before the wave arrived. Their way of life is today under heavy pressure from fishing restrictions inside the park, forced settlement and the lack of recognition of their citizenship.