This is the harrowing moment dozens of tribal homes belonging to the Monken tribe were destroyed by a fire leaving more than 300 of them homeless.<br /><br />Flames broke out on the remote Thai island of Surin in the Andaman Sea after a long tail boat's engine exploded. The island is the home to the Moken tribe, or sea gypsies, best known for their incredible free-diving skills reaching depths of 200ft.<br /><br />But the 300 members of the tribe have now been left homeless with an uncertain future after their homes were destroyed and they were evacuated to a neighbouring island. <br /><br />Phuttaphong Khuprasit, an officer for the island which is only accessible by a two-hour boat ride, said the blaze spread quickly due to strong winds.<br /><br />He said: ''We received reports of the fire at approximately 9:30pm and co-ordinated with naval forces to check. When we arrived we found that the fire had burned quickly through 60 homes. <br /><br />''From inquiries with a tour guide on the island, we believe that one of the villagers had taken a long-tail boat into their wooden home. The engine exploded and the house caught fire. There were 100 children and 300 adults affected.''<br /><br />The Moken people are a dwindling tribe of Austronesian people who spent thousands of years living nomadic lives as 'sea gypsies', travelling the ocean and hunting for fish.<br /><br />The fire puts the existence of the tribe at risk, as happened after the 2004 tsunami when many were relocated to the mainland.
