(CNN) — These days, Salamak Klathalay, like most of us, lives in a house, on land. But this is a relatively new experience for the 78-year-old.
“As a kid, I lived on a boat part of the year and on land part of the year,” Salamak tells me from his home on Ko Surin, an island-bound national park in Thailand’s south.
“We would go to land during the monsoon season to look for tubers. After that, we would go back to our boats.”
Salamak is a member of Thailand’s Moken ethnic group.
Also known as the “sea gypsies” or chao ley — Thai for “sea people” — the Moken lay claim to an astounding list…
