Can anyone give an advice that come from expirience(prefer people that been there down that in real life)is it worth to go for ow instructor trainig in Thailand and look for job opportunities after the training? Is that all seasonal or year around work?My current level is rescue diver with few dives there and here.Planing to stay there for 3 to 6 months at the time.Can anyone give some feedbacks ?
Instructor training and job opportunities in Thailand .Its worth?
- Thread starter Adi das
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Tons of info on this topic....try the search engine! Most of the DM here at ProDive learnt in that region and have worked all over....hit the search button and welcome to the show.
Need to do DM and IDC/IE. Most people who do it also hold instructor ratings with more than one agency. PADI and SSI are popular. RAID is making some traction.
There is a freelance work in Thailand. It's not that well paid, and is seasonal. But is great fun. I enjoyed it a lot. I'd save up beforehand rather than relying on wages. I don't like living in a dump or worrying about the cost of a beer.
It depends on your age and what you want from it. I would do it again if my life fell apart. But it's not a career choice for most people.
You can live on the wages though. Just not luxury. And you will be working illegally. That's normal. If you want to know how the visa and working goes then PM me. I'm not going to explain it on the forum and don't think it would be appreciated.
There is a freelance work in Thailand. It's not that well paid, and is seasonal. But is great fun. I enjoyed it a lot. I'd save up beforehand rather than relying on wages. I don't like living in a dump or worrying about the cost of a beer.
It depends on your age and what you want from it. I would do it again if my life fell apart. But it's not a career choice for most people.
You can live on the wages though. Just not luxury. And you will be working illegally. That's normal. If you want to know how the visa and working goes then PM me. I'm not going to explain it on the forum and don't think it would be appreciated.
I'll respond generally.
Thailand is somewhere you can rock up and do an IDC/IE and get work. You are best off going somewhere like Koh Tao and doing your DM course and then IDC/IE. I'm saying this as you will manage to get some connections whilst doing these courses and if you are semi decent you will get work. You will also know the sites so instructing or leading there will be easy. On the west coast where the diving is better you stand nearly no chance of getting work without a visa and more experience.
Now - in terms of Visa it's worth asking when you get there. They will explain the most cost effective ways of doing things. You can get a ferry over to Koh Samui and extend your tourist visa easily. How long you can do this for depends on where you come from. Occasionally you will need to leave the country. All this costs money which you will be short of. You can also run into problems if you upset someone - you are breaking the law. And it's an easy stick to beat you with. Be realistic and go into it with your eyes open.
Now technically you can't work on a tourist visa. But if that law was enforced the whole industry in Thailand would fall apart. You could theoretically get a work visa (and I know people who have one) as an instructor but NOT as a DM. However - being honest here, it's going to cost you money and not help you an awful lot as an OWSI.
The pay is not great. If you like living in basic conditions and just love diving then it will work. But diving the same sites gets boring. Doing the same OW course over and over gets boring. And you will have many of the same stresses as at home. You will have a boss, you will have to deal with idiots and people you don't like, and you will have stresses and problems.
Thailand is somewhere you can rock up and do an IDC/IE and get work. You are best off going somewhere like Koh Tao and doing your DM course and then IDC/IE. I'm saying this as you will manage to get some connections whilst doing these courses and if you are semi decent you will get work. You will also know the sites so instructing or leading there will be easy. On the west coast where the diving is better you stand nearly no chance of getting work without a visa and more experience.
Now - in terms of Visa it's worth asking when you get there. They will explain the most cost effective ways of doing things. You can get a ferry over to Koh Samui and extend your tourist visa easily. How long you can do this for depends on where you come from. Occasionally you will need to leave the country. All this costs money which you will be short of. You can also run into problems if you upset someone - you are breaking the law. And it's an easy stick to beat you with. Be realistic and go into it with your eyes open.
Now technically you can't work on a tourist visa. But if that law was enforced the whole industry in Thailand would fall apart. You could theoretically get a work visa (and I know people who have one) as an instructor but NOT as a DM. However - being honest here, it's going to cost you money and not help you an awful lot as an OWSI.
The pay is not great. If you like living in basic conditions and just love diving then it will work. But diving the same sites gets boring. Doing the same OW course over and over gets boring. And you will have many of the same stresses as at home. You will have a boss, you will have to deal with idiots and people you don't like, and you will have stresses and problems.
Allright,that is interesing.Thanks for been straight forward alot of good info. Frist a visa qestion,i have seen for us citizen on tourist visa i can stay for 2 month's then extended for 1 more after that i need to apply for something's else i would guess? How did you manage that?
Okay - I have a different passport, but it has the same rules. Firstly you wouldn't want a visa like that. You want to enter on a 30 day exemption. You can then extend this twice for a fee of 1900 Baht. After 3 months you need to leave the country and go back in. When I was there you needed to do this via a flight - but I think they have relaxed this now. But you will need to go to another country and re-enter. You can repeat this over and over.
Remember all these things cost money. Your salary is low. You are not looking into paying for ferries and travel to leave and re-enter the country. No website will break these costs down... Most blogs will not. Remember it's technically illegal. But then so it speeding - and in terms of seriousness, it's treated about the same there.
However - there are talks of them getting stricter. The reality is that Thailand is reliant on tourism. And it's unlikely you will have many problems. It might be an idea to do a visa run with someone else. It's not like the US or the UK, at certain times you are going to have have to "look after" an official. I'm not going to go into this more. It's better to speak to someone in Thailand if you actually go there. Everyone is doing it, and everyone knows how. But info changes regularly and it's worth getting the latest advice when you are there.
I have plenty of friends who have been in Thailand for a number of years doing this. However it's not a stable life - and I wouldn't want to live like this long term.
Yes and no. Officially they are strict. However in reality it's not going to cause you problems unless you act like an idiot. In Thailand you need to play the game. How you dress when dealing with officials makes a big difference. Generally you'd have to work really hard to have problems relating to VISA control.
One final tip. If you do go then get EVERYTHING before you go. Equipment is painfully expensive in Thailand. Do take everything with you. Parks for Apeks/Scubapro/Aqualung are very easy to get hold off - as shops use them. Servicing is cheap. Masks and other consumables are expensive - I'd take atleast 3/4 masks with me.
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