red_barbarian
Contributor
Since your in Chiang Mai, Pattaya makes the most sense. Go with one of the shops that will teach the course on the Hardeep, it will give you the best "feel" for being inside a larger wreck. The Hardeep has the chance to do longer swims between tie off's , most of the shops seem to just drop into the engine room on the Khood/Khram do some short line drills and get out. Since PADI allows you to make 40M (depth + penetration dives) I think it's good training to get a feel for longer swims, I agree with the previous poster about the Sattakut being a bit dull, the Khood/Khram can be good training sites, although you'll get more if you and the instructor plan on using Nitrox due to the interior training spots are fairly deep. The Hardeep/Khram/Khood can all give you the chance to feel what a low viz, high current wreck feels like as well if you drop down at the wrong time. There are a large number of shop reviews on this site about Pattaya shops over the years, they can cause a bit of a stir so you might just try popping into a few of the shops around town and seeing who you get on best with.