phuket magazine

The earliest known peoples to inhabit the Andaman coasts of Thailand are the Moken, or so-called sea gypsies, who can still be found here in several villages. The earliest people to leave trace of their presence were painters who left images in caves, particularly in the top end of Phang Nga Bay. Some caves here contain deep mounds comprised of shellfish, leftovers from prehistoric human meals.

But who were these cave dwellers? Today there is speculation - were those early cave dwellers the forefathers of the Moken? Were they an entirely different people who have since died out or been assimilated?

Not very much research has been done on these topics, and there is little written on the topic.

Today tourists are taken to see one cave with both paintings and a shell mound. Called Skull Cave, this is reached by a road that runs down from the Phang Nga – Krabi highway to the edge of the mangrove swamps with a short boat ride down a mangrove canal to the cave.