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The Tanintharyi coast, in the extreme south of Myanmar where Myanmar
and Thailand share the narrow peninsula, is bounded by the beautiful
islands of the Mergui Archipelago. Myeik-known to the colonials as
Mergui and locally as Beik (Myeik is the written rather than the
spoken form) – sits on a peninsula that just out into the Andaman
Sea. Because of the safe harbor offered by the peninsula and facing
islands, Myeik became an important port over 500 years ago.
Today Myeik is one of the most picturesque coastal cities in
Myanmar. A wide range of traditional colonial and vernacular
architectural styles line the streets, which lie flat toward the
waterfront but wind upward into a hilly section to the east. Viewed
at a distance from this hilly ridge, the city and island-studded
harbor look must as they must have 100 years ago.
Myeik Archipelago (The
Southern Treasure)
Far beyond the value of any local product rubber, marine products or
swift let’s nests is the Myeik Archipelago’s huge, almost completely
untapped potential in the beach going and ecotourism market. The
Burmese say there are over 4000 islands in the archipelago, though
British surveyors recognized only 804. Most are uninhabited, though
a few are home to ‘sea gypsies’, a nomadic seafaring people who sail
from island to island, stopping off to repair their boats or fishing
nets. Known as Salon to the Burmese, chao naam to the Thais, orang
laut or orang basin to the Malays and Moken or Maw Ken (sea-drowned)
among themselves, this may have been the first ethnic group to have
lived in what is today Myanmar. With stones tied to their waists as
ballast, a Mokan diver can reportedly descend to a depth of 60m
while breathing through an air hose held above the water surface.
Mayanpin Kyun, known to the British as King Island (and locally
known both as Kadan Kyun and Kyunsu, the latter the name of the
island district’s capital), lies a good distance offshore. In spite
of its size and geographic variation-at 44,000 hectares it’s the
largest island in the archipelago – reports say there are no good
beaches on the island.
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