MAHS Thailand Country Coordinator
Abhirada Komoot, or Pook, oversees and administers the MAHS operations in Thailand. Pook is a maritime archaeologist and heritage scholar with a cross-educational background in law, heritage management and archaeology. Maritime and underwater cultural heritage appealed to her as an undergraduate at Silapakorn University. She has a doctoral degree from the University of Western Australia with a thesis on ‘Maritime Connections in the Indian Ocean World during the Late First Millennium CE: An Archaeological Study of the Phanom-Surin Ship in Thailand’. She purposefully appraises the role of Southeast Asia’s continental coast in the more comprehensive maritime cultural network. She believes in a single Southeast Asian maritime region based on close-knitted cultural links in land and sea areas. She continues to develop her experience in maritime cultural heritage and research with broad interests in the maritime history of the Indian Ocean World, in which Southeast Asia is a central focus. She has worked with international teams such as UNESCO, SEAMEO SPAFA, the Dutch Cultural Agency and Western Australia Museum.