The 2004 tsunami devastated large areas in the southern part of Thailand. This paper takes a particular look at the circumstances of vulnerability and the process of recovery in the area of Khao Lak and its surrounding villages, which constitute a booming tourist hotspot at the centre of a region that is still dominated by agriculture. A quantitative vulnerability model was developed, integrating a quantitative household survey and remote sensing data. This model describes and specifies the circumstances of vulnerability and the factors leading to a recovery of the area. Indirect effects on the livelihood of households in particular, such as the disruption of infrastructure or the loss of income, show a negative effect on the recovery time. External help received by the households even shows an extending influence on the duration of their recovery period.

This article presents the traditional knowledge of an ethnic group of sea nomads generally known in Thailand as Chao Lay. The Moken once led a nomadic marine life. They have developed their traditional knowledge and belief system over several centuries. This practical knowledge has been obtained through interaction with local ecosystems and from observation and experimentation in everyday life. The Moken have intimate knowledge relating to the sea and the forest, and they have elaborated boat‐building skills and other technologies that allow them to make their living from the sea, coastal areas, and islands. This traditional knowledge and attendant practices represent a form of natural resources management and conservation. It comprises: 1) knowledge and skills that depend upon simple technologies that have minimal impact on the natural environment and its resources; 2) a nomadic life with frequent displacements that allow the Moken to rotate their foraging grounds and prevent overuse and degradation of specific areas; 3) knowledge about numerous forest and marine species – their characteristics, behaviour, habitats and eco‐niches – which enables the Moken to make use of a diversity of local ecosystems; 4) a hunter‐gatherer livelihood focusing primarily upon subsistence, with little accumulation of material goods, and finally 5) a philosophy and belief system that holds that natural resources are not individually owned, but rather are to be shared by everyone without restrictions on access. The sharing ethic is very strong in the Moken community and resources are shared not only with fellow humans but with supernatural beings as well. This system of traditional knowledge, know‐how and representations has never been recognised nor respected. Rather than a form of natural resources management and conservation, it has been misinterpreted as part and parcel of a “primitive”, underdeveloped, and materially poor livelihood. For mainstream society, development for the Moken necessarily requires the termination of their “primitive” life and the embracing of modernity. Through this pathway to development, however, the Moken are likely to lose their traditional knowledge and the sustainable livelihood that has ensured their physical and cultural well‐being for centuries.

The origins of the Moken 'Sea Gypsies,' a group of traditionally boat-dwelling nomadic foragers, remain speculative despite previous examinations from linguistic, sociocultural and genetic perspectives. We explored Moken origin(s) and affinities by comparing whole mitochondrial genome and hypervariable segment I sequences from 12 Moken individuals, sampled from four islands of the Mergui Archipelago, to other mainland Asian, Island Southeast Asian (ISEA) and Oceanic populations. These analyses revealed a major (11/12) and a minor (1/12) haplotype in the population, indicating low mitochondrial diversity likely resulting from historically low population sizes, isolation and consequent genetic drift. Phylogenetic analyses revealed close relationships between the major lineage (MKN1) and ISEA, mainland Asian and aboriginal Malay populations, and of the minor lineage (MKN2) to populations from ISEA. MKN1 belongs to a recently defined subclade of the ancient yet localized M21 haplogroup. MKN2 is not closely related to any previously sampled lineages, but has been tentatively assigned to the basal M46 haplogroup that possibly originated among the original inhabitants of ISEA. Our analyses suggest that MKN1 originated within coastal mainland SEA and dispersed into ISEA and rapidly into the Mergui Archipelago within the past few thousand years as a result of climate change induced population pressure.

The Bajau are a sea nomad group in Indonesia with the largest proportion of the population living nearby or utilizing marine resources in the fragile pelagic zone. In general, the Bajau have been a left-behind group and thus occupied a peripheral role in coastal and marine management and conservation. In Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi Province, the Bajau communities are marginalized in terms of policy recognition and development plan. This paper explores how a co-management system which is a platform to synchronize the community and organization needs in the coastal management and customary practices has failed to recruit the Bajau’s participation. The primary data were collected using multi-sited ethnographic method in five Bajau villages in Wakatobi and using key informant interviews with related stakeholders. The inter-customary controls for coastal and marine management, the issue of social cohesion within the Bajau communities, and the lack of institutional support were investigated as drivers of co-management failure in Wakatobi. The implementation of a co-management system requires multi-sectoral agreement and socio-cultural consideration. Unless the Bajau are acknowledged, accepted, and involved as an important partner in marine management and conservation, the success of the co-management system remains in doubt.

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