Locals to Poor for PADI

[chinadan]

I am new to diving and so far have only visited the Philippines and Thailand.

I think locals in these countries are very familiar with the sea and whats in it. Or how do they manage to catch delicate tropical fish for the aquarium trade? In the Philippines they tie a normal PVC air hose around their waist and go under while being supplied by an air compressor above and then carefully catch the prized fish with cyanide in order not to damage the goods.

I would believe that these guys, while not being certified, will probably swim circles around most SCUBA divers.

I think raising awareness among locals for the underwater environment is more efficiently done above water than below.

There is an interesting project going on at Wakatobi dive sites where the dive resort leases the reefs from the local villagers, thus keeping them from over-fishing and destroying the reefs. If this agreement is breached, the whole village gets their power cut off, which is supplied by the dive resort.

Dive tourists get charged an extra fee for this system to work. Little room for corruption as all parties involved are directly connected to the tourist dollars...

Remains to be seen whether this will work out, but a clever idea nonetheless.

Locals in poor countires are trying to survive and go after the best means to do so. The "luxury" of environmental awareness rarely comes from within until it is too late - and the tourists stay away.

IMHO, it is all about the money in the end and the only way to raise environmental awareness is through the wallet. This applies to above and below water.

I fail to see how getting locals into PADI will help this significantly. And don't forget an important point - the language barrier. When was the last time you heard a Thai speak fluent Japanese or a Filipino talk Korean?

English, as the most commonly spoken foreign language among locals can already be a hurdle (or would you like to receive life-saving information in broken TAXI-English?).

But the majority of non-European dive tourists in Asia are Asian which is probably the reason most dive resorts have Korean and Japanese instructors.

Just my 0.16 RMB...

 

[Albion]

The tourists are already supporting the locals by going there. Then you want to tax them for it? Crap.
If the locals are that poor, I would assume they are more concerned with eating than looking at coral.

You are more than welcome to pay for any scuba classes you think you need to though.

Why not toss them a few crumbs while you are at it if they are that poor and hungry. Where do you get this biggoted cr4p from. You sound like someone who likes visiting exotic places so long as they dont have to meet the great unwashed, except to let them carry there equipment.

These people are generally not diving for pleasure but so that they can work as DM or guide to pay for the food so they can eat.

9 times out of 10 i will take a local guide over an expat one (sorry dorsetboy and Cancun you probably are the 1 out 10 ok). Whilst there safety procedures and rescue maybe in question i am experienced enough to look after myself so i would go with the local local knowledge. Usually if you take time to be friendly and not pushy or demanding you will be rewarded and shown the GOOD stuff.

I fail to see how getting locals into PADI will help this significantly. And don't forget an important point - the language barrier. When was the last time you heard a Thai speak fluent Japanese or a Filipino talk Korean?
...

I beg to differ, you go to some areas and find the local staff speaks better Japanese than english. And the point is not getting them leisure diving but training them so they can work. Eco divers in Manado is one good example. They took over the running of a dive operation, which I had previously dived under the orginal management, and found the guides to be very knowledgeable and helpful. However post Eco divers taking over, they had trained the guides up to at least DM standard (they were just guides before) and given them additional english lessons, so post dive they could explain better what we had seen. Its win win, as a customer i am safer and better informed and the staff have something behind them.

 

[whitehead]

Oh, this thread has given me a good old laugh.

I don't want to jump on any toes of Thais on the board or other Thailand residents (permanent, semi or passing through) so I will keep my comment to Bangkok and costs of training:

"Thais do NOT pay Farang prices."

 

[DORSETBOY]

Oh, this thread has given me a good old laugh.

I don't want to jump on any toes of Thais on the board or other Thailand residents (permanent, semi or passing through) so I will keep my comment to Bangkok and costs of training:

"Thais do NOT pay Farang prices."

obviously not.. one school of thought (which I agree with) says that we should discount prices to encourage local participation.. for the various reasons outlined previously... the other school of thought on here thinks we shouldn't discount prices for locals. Both I think wold agree that Thais will not pay Farang (foreigner) prices.

 

[paulwlee]

I often dive in Thailand and am sometimes bothered when I think about the disparities.
..
..

I mean no offense, but this reminds me of the "let them eat cake" story involving a certain queen in France.

Activities such as SCUBA diving or golfing are really activities for the affluent few, in terms of the whole population on Earth. As such, I think 'scholarships' for certifying locals who can't afford to dive in the first place is quite pointless.
Those people have more important things to do, and their own way of enjoying themselves that make more sense in their particular circumstances.

Also, as someone from Thailand noted on this thread, when Thai people go to dive, they probably won't pay the same prices as foreigners. The prices for foreigners are high because the market can bear it.

 

[DORSETBOY]

I mean no offense, but this reminds me of the "let them eat cake" story involving a certain queen in France.

Activities such as SCUBA diving or golfing are really activities for the affluent few, in terms of the whole population on Earth. As such, I think 'scholarships' for certifying locals who can't afford to dive in the first place is quite pointless.
Those people have more important things to do, and their own way of enjoying themselves that make more sense in their particular circumstances.

Also, as someone from Thailand noted on this thread, when Thai people go to dive, they probably won't pay the same prices as foreigners. The prices for foreigners are high because the market can bear it.

urrrmmmm?!!

pointless getting locals to dive? not really, look back and read the post by Albion, think thast gives a perfect example of a GOOD reason.

As for scuba being for the afluent few, that depends on how it's marketed and the reasons a person is diving for, again Albion's example is an excellent one.

An annalogy to a past Queen of France sounds very good, but I think an argument holds more weight if backed up by a real (relevant) example.

 

[paulwlee]

pointless getting locals to dive? not really, look back and read the post by Albion, think thast gives a perfect example of a GOOD reason.

As for scuba being for the afluent few, that depends on how it's marketed and the reasons a person is diving for, again Albion's example is an excellent one.

An annalogy to a past Queen of France sounds very good, but I think an argument holds more weight if backed up by a real (relevant) example.

OK, it makes perfect sense to train people to become dive guides and instructors in order to make a living. In fact, I think that would be great.

When I wrote the above comment I was thinking about certification in general, which, to me, seemed like what the original poster meant. In that context, I think the Antoinette analogy is quite apt. Similar to teaching wine-tasting to poor kids for free.

 

[durian]

A Thai lady DM I know loves to dive and is very good at it and with managing a dive shop. She was subsidized by the shop and the one she works at now will pay for her IT if she wants it. I know another Thai lady who was subsidized for her AOW.

I teach English in a university in Seoul and have a student who is 20 and is an Open Water Instructor for SDI. She wants to learn English because she knows if she does she will be marketable in many places.


I believe it to be wonderful if locals can make it to DM or Instructor levels. I do not think their generations of poverty need determine their futures.

 

[Albion]

I teach English in a university in Seoul and have a student who is 20 and is an Open Water Instructor for SDI. She wants to learn English because she knows if she does she will be marketable in many places.

I visit Korea quite regualry for business and have wanted to dive there. For diving do you go down south ulsan / pusan , or further down to Cheju?

 

[durian]

I visit Korea quite regualry for business and have wanted to dive there. For diving do you go down south ulsan / pusan , or further down to Cheju?

well, I go to Thailand almtree: almtree: