A House Among the Moken

By December 2011 Philip had finished a one-room house in the Moken's own building style — everything handmade, so the Moken could replicate it — and moved in with the boys in his care. He celebrated his birthday on the island, alone among Moken who didn't know what day it was. The sending cell also trailed an income project: buying a boat for Moken families to fish with, so they would be less exploited by local Thai buyers, with profits saved toward the next boat. This was an early version of the later income-generation thinking that would culminate in the 2025 ice factory.