Scuba With Bill

THAILAND has dumped 189 old garbage trucks off its southern coast in a bid to build an artificial reef to lure fish for local fishermen.

The trucks, once used to collect refuse in the sprawling Thai capital Bangkok, were dropped into the Gulf of Thailand, about 5.5 km from the southern province of Pattani.

Under a project initiated by Thailand’s queen in 2002, everything from concrete pillars to old rail cars have been dumped at 47 sites in the waters off southern Thailand.

Thailand creates garbage truck reef | World Wide Weird | The Australian

The Bangkok Post has a round up of hotel and diving packages that are being offered by several of Thailand’s more upmarket hotels to drum up business during the off-peak, rainy season that’s currently in progress.

There’s some interesting offers amongst this lot, although don’t expect the diving to be up too much around Phuket and Krabi at this time of year. Similarly, the weather on Samui in October can be really grim - it’s pot luck. Some days it’s great, some days it’s not.

Thailand Diving Packages During Rainy Season - divehappy.com: Scuba Diving In Thailand and South East Asia

Thailand is blessed with many world class diving sites - and there’s so many of them, it can get a bit bewildering about where to go. The Tourist Authority Of Thailand has a very good summary of the different sites on a single webpage, with links out to separate pages on each of the different major dive destinations. It’s well presented, with maps and some beautiful photos to get you in the mood for what you’ll see. There’s also practical info on how to get to each destination too.

Thailand Dive Sites At A Glance - divehappy.com: Scuba Diving In Thailand and South East Asia

An excellent piece from Dive Happy on diving the Similan Islands:

One of the reasons why diving the Similans is such a great experience is because there’s a natural sense of build up over the four days of the liveaboard . You start off in the Similan Islands proper, doing some easy reef dives that offer spectacular bommies like East Of Eden, which is so covered in fan and soft corals and alive with different fish species that it’s been regularly filmed and photographed by the likes of National Geographic. By the second day, you get to dive the more challenging big boulder sites like Elephant Head Rock and North Point, where truly huge rocks several storeys high have rolled together to create a labyrinth of swimthoughs and shelter for the fish. There’s something exhilarating about being at 20 metres passing over the top of one of these rocks - and then watch it drop away another 30 metres below you as you fly off the side. Turtles chewing on coral hide around them, and within the canyons formed by the rocks you can find clown triggerfish, probably my favourite fish of all.

DiveHappy has a good write-up on the best dive sites in Thailand. Worth checking out if you need a reason to drool this winter.

Wonderful news from DiveHappy about the rebirth of Koh Phi Phi which had been devistated during the 2004 tsunami.

All during 2005 volunteers and locals put in thousands of hours of work cleaning up not only on land but underwater. Divers have cleared some 280 tonnes of debris from under the water and beaches returning Ko Phi Phi to an excellent diving opportunity.

Ran across an excellent recap of the post-tsunami diving conditions in the Thailand area in PADI’s Sprt Diver Magazine. From the sound of the article things do appear to be improving:

The local tsunami dive camps’ effort to systematically clean any and all damaged reefs and sea bottoms around the Phi Phi islands has made noticeable differences, which is encouraging for all involved. Andrew Hewett, general manager of the Adventure Club on Koh Phi Phi, says that he has been overwhelmed by the efforts made by people who have travelled across the world not only to assist on the dive project, but also to help the local people and victims of the tsunami. “It is a pleasure and a privilege to work with these people, who are devoting all of their time and energy. Their efforts are totally selfless and they wish nothing in return, just to know that they have made a difference. My hat goes off to them.”

PHUKET: Following a February 23 meeting to discuss problems in Phuket’s recreational dive industry, a new committee will be formed to ensure that all dive operators are accurately reporting their income – and paying taxes on it.

Phuket’s Chief Administrative Officer (Palad), Nivit Aroonrat, who chaired the meeting, said that the Phuket dive industry currently comprises 106 operators, of which about 70% are owned by foreigners.

“Many people have [complained] about the large number of foreigners coming here to open dive shops that give little back to our country.

“Although most are registered in the name of a Thai, these are just proxies. The companies are actually administrated by foreigners, which makes it difficult for us to know their real numbers of customers, staff and boats, and their income,” he said.

“It isn’t fair that these companies take in 50,000 to 100,000 baht from each customer for dive trips and then give nothing back to Phuket in taxes … There are many dive companies in Phuket that are evading taxes.

“This is why we will form a special committee to oversee the industry and check on these dive outfits to see how much income they actually make and how many people they really employ,” he said.

Despite the fact that officials from the government agencies involved in environmental protection told the meeting that they had received no reports of environmental damage caused by dive operators, the committee will also establish zones in provincial waters where dive tours may be conducted; other areas would be declared conservation zones and will be off-limits.

K. Nivit added that he believed there was no reason to have so many foreign dive masters and instructors when Thais were capable of doing these jobs.

“Thais can teach diving, but the foreigners don’t give us the chance,” he said.

Brought to you by:
The Phuket Gazette
18:32 local time (GMT +7)

KOH RACHA YAI: Japanese tourist Akira Egoshi, 24, died while diving in Siam Bay, off Koh Racha Yai, on Wednesday.

Pol Maj Chana Sutthimas, an Inspector with the Chalong Police, told the Gazette that a tour party of 11 Japanese tourists led by four dive masters from Kata Diving Co Ltd left Chalong Pier aboard the dive boat Laddawan 5 at 8:20 am, bound for Koh Racha Yai.

“The crew of Laddawan 5 called in at about 4 pm to report that a diver was missing,” he said. “At that time, their divers were still looking for him.”

Maj Chana said that it seemed Mr Egoshi had swam away from the rest of the divers and had become snagged on a rock. Unable to free himself, he had run out of oxygen.

Marine Police responded to the Laddawan 5 crew’s call for help and launched a search for Mr Egoshi, Maj Chana said.

“Hi s body was found and taken to Vachira Phuket Hospital, where it was identified. We are continuing our investigation into the incident,” he added.

The Gazette made repeated attempts today to contact senior management at Kata Dive Co Ltd but without success.

Brought to you by:
The Phuket Gazette
18:33 local time (GMT +7)

Albert Schwartz has a nice little writeup and album from his recent scuba trip to Phuket. Worth checking out.