Inside the Kabang: a Floating Home for Thailand’s Last Sea Nomads | Slice

For the Moken sea nomads, the kabang is more than a boat. It is a home, a shelter, a kitchen, a memory, and the center of a life built around the sea.

Each day begins with what the ocean can offer. Rice, sugar, and oil are traded for fish along the coast, but the rest must be found by skill, patience, and breath. Noi prepares his harpoon, not a net, because he only wants to take what his family needs.

Beneath the surface, the coral reefs become a hunting ground where every movement matters. The Moken know the fish, the currents, the silence, and the danger. Underwater, they enter a world where land and boat disappear.

Their knowledge is also ancestral. In 2004, when the sea suddenly withdrew, the Moken remembered the warning of Laboon, the great wave. Their legends helped them survive the tsunami.

Through fishing, cooking, stories, and life aboard the traditional kabang, this documentary reveals a maritime culture shaped by restraint, survival, and deep intimacy with the ocean.

Documentary: People of the Sea – Ep9: Thailande
Directed by: Nicos Argillet
Production: Découpages & Arte France


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