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The dramatic scenery continues underwater with magnificent coral reefs around many of the islands. The snorkelling and scuba diving in this area is superb. Sharks, whale sharks, dolphins, manta rays, mobula rays and fish are prolific. In March and April each year, large numbers of sperm and humpback whales visit the area. Two years ago we had a memorable opportunity to snorkel with two sperm whales that were resting on the surface.
   
Unfortunately, over the last few years some areas have been badly damaged by the destructive practise of dynamite fishing. The Myanmar Government has reacted very positively to lobbying by environmental groups and is now working actively to stop dynamite fishing and has also introduced new legislation banning shark fishing in the Mergui Islands. These are certainly steps in the right direction.
    
The indigenous people of the Mergui Archipelago are the Moken (also known as  Salones). These gentle, peaceful people are a source of complete fascination to anthropologists as they still cling to their traditional nomadic, hunter-gatherer existence despite attempts to settle them in permanent villages. Traditionally the Moken do not fish. They are hunter-gatherers mainly living off shellfish collected in the inter-tidal zone. They also free dive for shell fish and sea cucumbers, sometimes diving to amazing depths ballasted by large stones tied to their waists. The Moken also occasionally hunt wild boar and small deer in the forest with the aid of their dogs.
   
Each Moken family group lives on a flotilla (ban) of traditionally built wooden boats (kabang). Each member of the family also has a personal dugout canoe that he or she uses for foraging. When the Moken move from island to island, these dugout canoes are towed in a long chain behind their kabang.
   
We occasionally come across the Moken in the Mergui Archipelago. They pull into a nearby beach in their flotilla of boats. Adults, children, cats, dogs, chickens and ducks leap off each boat and rush into the jungle to forage. Suddenly, at some hidden signal, people and animals come rushing back out of the forest and jump on the boat just before it leaves for another anchorage. Their arrivals and departures seem random and follow no obvious pattern of time or tide.
   
Sometimes the Moken cautiously approach our yacht with a gift of rock oysters or maybe the haunch of a wild boar after a successful hunt. They are always delighted when we give them a gift in return – a roll of cloth or an old dive mask.
   
Yacht charters into the remote Mergui Archipelago depart from the town of Kawthaung which is on the border of Thailand and Myanmar. From the regional transportation hub of Bangkok there are daily flights to Ranong which is on the Thailand side of the Pak Chan river border with Myanmar. A half hour trip on a local longtail boat transports you across the Pak Chan river to Kawthaung to join your yacht. Myanmar visas are issued on arrival.

Information
Emerald Yacht is a US based booking agency that offers two superb yachts for charter in the remote Mergui Archipelago. Contact Skip Mansfield for further details.
Email: skipmansfield@compuserve.com
Tel: +1 941 639 4442

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