After a 24 hour double-decker bus ride, we arrived on the southern coast of Thailand, only to hop onto a ferry for a four hour boat ride to get to Koh Lipe. Found in the Adang Archipelago in the Andamen sea, Koh Lipe is a small island that is currently undergoing rapid development to meet the demands of tourists.
The island is also home to the formerly semi-nomadic "sea gypsies" called the Urak Lawoi. Currently involved in land disputes with the national park and wealthy Bangkok resort owners, the Urak Lawoi are finding it difficult to maintain their traditional way of life.
To add to the stresses on land, the local fish stocks are declining as more international trawlers encroach on the coral reefs and Koh Lipe area. Some Urak Lawoi fisherman now only eat fish in the off season, instead of year round like they are traditionally known to do.
However, outside sources are not entirely to blame for the environmental degradation of Koh Lipe and its surrounding reefs. The Urak Lawoi have been known to use dynamite fishing techniques that destroy entire sections of coral reefs and are all together inefficient. Traditionally the Urak Lawoi would use handmade traps and fish in one area until the reef was nearly depleted and then move on and come back to the same spot many years later. It is clear that the Urak Lawoi's traditional fishing techniques are only sustainable in a world with fewer people and no competing fishermen.
During the islands course we spent half of our time on the island of Koh Lipe, speaking with Urak Lawoi, local stakeholders and doing an assessment of the island's restaurants, resorts, fishermen, religions, food sources, education and language. Our results will be compiled and added to a larger UNESCO publication about the Urak Lawoi.
The second half of our course was spent kayaking and camping on an island in the national park. We studied mangroves and coral reefs. It was primarily a relaxing course that involved a lot of snorkeling!!!!
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