Type
Education
Budget
Status
Year
Ranong-Kho Lao
Moken, Guardians of the Sea
The Moken are an indigenous fishing community living on the islands of the Andaman Sea, off the coasts of Thailand and Burma. They are traditionally nomadic. They move around and spend part of the year living on their kabang boats, subsisting on fishing and gathering shellfish.
However, their way of life has been under threat for many years. Intensive fishing has depleted fish and shellfish populations, and plastic pollution has impacted their daily work. The 2004 tsunami brought attention to the Moken’s precarious status in Thailand. Most of them lack identity documents, preventing them from accessing formal employment, social assistance, and the public health system. Without official documents, many are forced to work in dangerous conditions for wages well below the legal minimum.
For nearly 15 years, the Jan & Oscar Foundation has supported the Moken people living on Lao Island by participating in their children’s education. Since 2019, we have expanded our commitment with the Moken: Guardians of the Sea project, which combines ocean protection with improving the Moken people’s living conditions.
Thanks to this project, Moken fishermen, the first to be affected by marine plastic pollution, collect plastic from the sea and from beaches. They bring it directly to our collection center by boat. The center is run by Tide Ocean Material and our social enterprise, Ranong Recycle for Environment. We purchase the plastic from the Moken at a fair price. Young Moken adults can also come to the center for training and work sorting plastic in exchange for a fair wage. To date, our project employs four young Moken women and collaborates with dozens of fishermen on collection efforts.
The partnership with the Moken people of the Surin and Ra islands
Located 60 kilometers from the Thai mainland, the Surin archipelago is home to an Moken village with 80 dwellings. As a national park, the Surin Islands attract many tourists. The Moken people must therefore manage the waste left behind by visitors as well as the tons of plastic carried by the sea that wash up on the archipelago’s beaches and coves.
Starting in 2020, a partnership between the Moken of Surin and our social enterprise, Ranong Recycle for Environment, has enabled the organization of plastic collection on the archipelago. In 2022, the program will expand to the Ra and Pratong islands near Kuraburi.
To date, the Moken have collected over 25,000 kilograms of plastic, which has been recycled through our project instead of polluting the sea. Initially developed by Lena and Hook, a German-Moken couple, the project is currently managed by Juri and Djao, a Moken couple.
This collaboration aims to support community-based, sustainable waste management that respects the Moken’s social and cultural organization. The project leaders have also established the first Moken social enterprise, Moken Ocean Guardians, to professionalize and expand waste management in Phang Nga province.
To learn more about this project, visit Facebook and page Facebook
Training young Moken people at the collection center
Since 2020, several young Moken adults have worked at the Ranong collection center. In exchange for a fair wage and social protection, they help sort the plastic waste brought in by collectors. One of these young women oversees our educational program in local schools
In 2025, with the support of the Lord Michelham of Hellingly Foundation, we opened a workshop for processing plastic caps. Three Moken women sort and clean the caps and are learning how to use the machines to transform this plastic into new objects. They are also taking English lessons so that they can welcome visitors who wish to participate in our workshops.
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY — Covid-19 Emergency Reporting Fund | Thailand on Vimeo
