The traditional lifestyle of the Mogan in the Surin Archipelago, Phang Nga province, especially their sea nomadic culture, had change radically since the establishment of the Surin Marine National Park in 1981. The establishment did not take the benefits or losses of local people into consideration, although shared natural resource exploitation was later compromised.
This qualitative research investigated related documents, the blueprint in the marine national park management, and interviews of concerned individuals. The findings reflected that state regulations restricted land ownership rights of the Mogan. Traditionally, the ethnic settlement was related to geographical conditions, seasons, and social system. They were forced to relocate to Bon Yai Inlet, which was a state-designated area for tourism purposes. They were further restricted the rights to access to both land and marine resources. They were also restricted to use certain types of fishing tools and areas of their conventional food source due to the reason of natural resource conservation.
Conservation and tourism of the marine national park brought about the loss of power for their self-administration. Employment of the ethnic group by state and private sectors during the tourist reasons enabled them to have incomes. At the same time, their lifestyle was changed from an independent system from nature to the market-dependent system. The food was changed from natural food to the one that was likely to cause nutritional problems.These resulted in areal degradation and reduction of marine resources.