BANGKOK: The 6-metre wide floating cabin that was home to an American bitcoin trader and his Thai girlfriend was supposed to launch a village of buoy-based homes in international waters.Chad Elwartowski and Supranee Thepdet lived for about two months in the cabin hailed as the"first seastead" by the group Ocean Builders. They envisioned a community that would include an underwater resort and restaurant off the coast of Thailand.
"I just want to make seasteading happen for real. I want to make it happen here in Thailand," Supranee said in a YouTube video to mark the launch of the cabin attached to a floating, weighted spar anchored to the sea bed to reduce the effect of waves.On Apr 13, the Thai navy seized the sea home about 14 nautical miles off the island of Phuket.
Initial designs were for multi-floor cylinders"with the option for a ladder, spiral staircase or an elevator to go from floor to floor," the website said. The sale was postponed, but the group had already received orders for an underwater restaurant and three"SeaBnBs", bungalow type hotel units, and 300 requests for information, Ocean Builders said.A founder of the seasteading movement, U.S. libertarian theorist Patri Friedman, said he had spoken with members of Ocean Builders about ambitious plans for an offshore resort.
Elwartowski and Ocean Builders have said the floating home was in international waters and beyond Thai jurisdiction. Authorities say the structure was in Thailand's 200-mile exclusive economic zone and therefore violated its sovereignty.