Hello Danish, welcome to Scubaboard and Happy New Year!
Your friend was actually one of many people who come to beautiful and inexpensive Thailand to become divemasters and instructors. Quite of a few of them, in fact, are members of Scubaboard and are now working as instructors in Thailand or elsewhere However, I think all of them would agree with myself that you have to be very careful where you choose to do your training to make sure it's not only good quality, but also a good and safe deal for you.
The first, most-important thing you need to know is this:
It is illegal in Thailand for a dive shop to "pay" you for your work with courses and training. Yes, some shops in Southern Thailand do offer this, but if you are caught, you can be arrested, deported and blacklisted from entering the country again.
The other thing is that if you research questions about internships and "free" divemaster courses right here on Scubaboard, you will see time and time again that people -- most of them professionals in the industry -- advise against doing them. The problem is that not only are they illegal, they're a scam most of the time. You work like a dog for months at things that have nothing to do with making you a good, safe and skilled PADI Professional, such as pumping tanks, cleaning gear, scrubbing out the toilets, etc., rather than working at your craft. The hours are lousy as well, starting work at 5 a.m. and/or finishing at 11 at night.
The fact is that if you are serious about pursuing a career -- or even just a career-level certification -- then it's worth paying for. And once you realize that, you'll understand what many people choose us here at Aquanauts Dive Centre in Pattaya. Just this week, someone just like you who posted a question about internships on Scubaboard a few months back signed up with us, joining a good half-dozen other active SB members.
Out Diving Instructor Training internships will take you to Divemaster from the Open Water in 3 months. Yes, it is possible to do it in less time, but in 3 months you'll get the opportunity to log about 150 dives, repeatedly lead dives in all different conditions, assist with countless courses and have lots of time to work on your studies and peers to work with you.
Most of our DM interns, by the way, decide to go on to instructor, which takes only 1 more month from where you are.
Now, our program is not free, but it is a great, 100% all-inclusive value. You get all your courses, the manuals, all certification fees (including your Divemaster application fee), National Geographic Diver status, 3 months accommodations, a full set of professional grade dive gear (yours to keep),
UNLIMITED DIVING for the full 3 months, you choice of 3 packages of bonus courses plus a 1-year membership in our exclusive Jobs4Divers scuba industry job placement service.
Full details are on the website here:
AQUANAUTS: PADI Divemaster Internship Courses Pattaya Thailand Dive Master DM Exams Training
What makes the Aquanauts program unique is that we intentially keep the program small, preferring to focus on individuals and small groups to produce the highest-quality PADI professionals possible. We don't pass DMs with just-barely passing marks. We wait until you are scoring at or near the top of the range of scores before signing you off. The same goes with our instrucdtors. Our candidates have a long and proven track record or scoring at or near the top of every PADI Insturctor Exam class for the past 3 years.
We are also the only center in Central Thailand with two in-house Course Directors working from the shop every day and the only dive center in the world (that we know of) that owns and operates a separately incorporated, standalone job-placmeent company for the diving industry. When you train with us, you get exclusive access to jobs 48 hours before the rest of the world gets to see them and our staff employment counselors work with you face to face to prepare your resume and cover letters and get them out for employers to see.
Pleasse see the website for more information and feel free to PM me through Scubaboard or call our free tellephone numbers from the US, UK and Australia.
