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Koh Phayam, Thailandmilestone

A Tent Camp, a Visa and a Football Cup

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Wud's team, five young men, four in pink-and-black Sea Light 'Teamwork' kits and one in a dark purple kit, holding the gold Phayam Cup trophy in front of a goal and the tournament banner

Philip's September & October 2026 newsletter brings news from two busy months on the island.

On 7 September an American family came to see the Moken work. They were very encouraged by everything that is happening, and Philip prays that they too will hear His calling to the Moken. Because the water factory permit is taking a very long time, the decision was made to build a tent camp for tourism, and the first tent is already finished.

On 16 September came the news Philip had been waiting for: his visa was approved. "Thank you for your prayers." A week of very heavy rain followed, with no power or water for a day and the road to Philip's place washed away.

Philip wrote exams again alongside most of the Moken students. He is finishing the Thai school syllabus so that he can teach, and he has one more term left before he completes Thai grade 12. The churches of Ranong province also met with the Department of Religion and Culture, and it was a privilege to share there.

At sports week in Ranong, with 16 schools taking part, the Moken boys came second in petanque, the girls third and the mixed team third. In October, building started on a shop with bathrooms, and Wud organised a football event on the island, the Phayam Cup, all by himself. It was a huge success: Wud's team won, and Sea Light B came third. Well done, Wud!

Photo Gallery

Visitors from America, 7 September: seven people, among them two Western men, local adults and a boy, on a concrete jetty in a coastal stilt-house village with flags and green hills behind
A barbecue evening with Dan and his family: teenage boys in football jerseys and visiting adults and children share a meal at a long table under a lit pavilion
The example tent for the new tourist tent camp on its raised deck, with four young men on the grass beside it and the netted fence of the soccer field behind
The first tent is finished: a canvas dome tent with a porch awning on a raised deck on concrete posts in a clearing among rubber trees
Inside the tent: two folding canvas chairs and a slatted wooden table in the living area, with the sleeping compartment, mattresses and a fan behind
The view back from a speedboat on the way to Bangkok for the visa in August 2025: a white wake behind twin outboard motors, with the island's pier and forested hills under cloud
After a week of heavy rain, the dirt road to Philip's place partly washed away into a large collapsed hole, with two dogs inspecting it
Floodwater beside the field: brown rainwater rushing down a deep eroded channel and pouring out of a pipe, with a dog running along the grassy bank
Exam day: Philip writing an exam at a tablet-arm desk on a school veranda, beside teenage students in school shirts doing the same
Philip writing his own exam alongside Moken students in white school shirts at tablet-arm desks on a school veranda, with the schoolyard and playground behind
On the way to the meeting of the churches of Ranong: five men, a Western man in the centre with four local young men, under a pier shelter with the sea and green islands behind
Sports week in Ranong: a Western man and several schoolchildren giving a thumbs-up from a motorbike sidecar on a pier, with the sea behind
Two school petanque teams with their coaches and officials beside a petanque pitch under a large covered sports arena; the Koh Phayam school boys, in pink and yellow, came second of 16 schools
The site of the new shop with bathrooms: a cleared building plot with a grid of concrete footing posts and a string line, bordered by trees and a fence
A Phayam Cup 2026 banner on the fence of the soccer field while young men play football behind it, motorbikes parked in front
Three young men in pink-and-black Sea Light 'Teamwork' kits, two standing with a large gold trophy and one lying in front with a smaller one, before a goal and the Phayam Cup banner; Sea Light B came third