Recommendations for divemaster course in Thailand

[lord khram]

yes I would agree, it does depend on the individual DC, but the statistics of my own experiences of diving in two seperate locations in Thailand and diving in my native UK are pretty conclusive up to now.

Thai experiences - 6 out of 6 poor ones.
UK experiences - Numerous and no reason for complaint to date.

My statement is not useless at all it is 100% true reflection of my experiences wether you like the fact or not.

Must say I am not at all surprised at your earlier experiences in Pattaya but I have dived Koh Chang regularly for a few years now and have always been looked after by the DC's that I have used.
Some could have been better at times, but nothing is perfect and I have never had reason to complain about my diving on the island.

 

[lord khram]

My students were not harmed in any way. All this guy had to do was be a victim in a Rescue diver coruse. As long as he could pretend to be drowning, pretend to be unconscious and pretend to be "dead" weight to be dragged back to shore, his role was fulfilled and no paying customers were scammed.

And of course I checked his credentials. However, we cannot get access to people's training records, even on line. All we can do is look them up to see if the rating was issued. It's clear that scuba diver ratings can be obtained fraudulently, as can university diplomas, passports, and any number of other documents.

I think we are talking about quite different things here. You are trying to paint a generalized picture of incompetence among working dive professionals in Thailand based on your perception. I'm talking about someone who was trying to work outside the system because, like you, he felt that working professionals were generally less competent than he himself was (which really wasn't true in his case, but may be in yours--I would have to see you dive to know for sure).

I don't share your negative view of scuba instruction in Thailand. I think most instructors do at least a good job, and a great many are excellent, including at the level of preparing DMs and OWSIs.

You seem to be missing my point here. I have not refered to any specific location or country here, these are purely your perceptions of what I have said. But yes since you brought it up more than a fair share of my negative dive experiences have been in Thailand, at various locations, but I have not said all in Thailand is poor. Please note my use of the word SOME that I went to the trouble of highlighting in my post No 232.
I also note that your post No 228 was subsequently modified after I responded to it (my post No 230) Where you included reference to muff-divers and ladyboys. Personally I dont care about the gender of dive professionals or what they get up to in their own homes be they muff-divers, ladyboys or even rug munchers. I simply expect them to behave in a professional and courteous manner whilst I am their customer.
Yes I dare say most instructors are responsible and professional, but there is also an element that are not. Again I dare say you conduct your own business professionally, and indeed would not state otherwise without good reason, but what you have said here does contain some inconsistencies that puzzle me some what.
For instance your post No 228 that refers to the 'jerk' you employed doing an uncontrolled asscent from a 6m safety stop. When your subsequent post No 233 states he was simply acting as a rescue victim. In my mind for someone to find themselves in a situation requiring such a stop when they were only ascined to act as rescue victim must have particularly bad buoyancy skills and you were completely right to fire him.

 

[mase]

I guess I have been very fortunate. I have done over 200 dives in Thailand (Koh Tao, Similans and Surin Islands) and have never come across what I would consider a bad or dishonest Dive Master or Dive operation. Have I had some bad Dives, yes, but I have also had bad dives in Cozumel, Honduras and Maui. That's how the cookie crumbles. Some people would rather complain then try to make the best out of a bad situation.

 

[funrecdiver]

I think it is a bit judgmental to off-handedly discount dive-center customer complaints of bad service as "that is the way the cookie crumbles" and then trying to paint the person who shared their customer-service experience as a "moaner" or a "whiner".

Recreational diving is a sport where customers pay for dives, and when they pay for a dive, then they should get that dive, not a "sorry, we decided to change the plan because of other customers who signed up today" without any offer for refund. This was the subject that a number of people have voiced their opinion about in this thread, not "are all dives perfect" or "are all dive days optimal"....

Sorry, but I don't see the point in trying to paint dive-center customers as "moaners' and "whiners" when they have paid good money and not been offered refunds when the agreed to dive plans changed because of a boat with too much diver diversity (children, snorkelers, beginning students, advanced students, and experienced divers) out on one trip.

To paint dive-center customers as "moaners and whiners" because they did not get the dive plan they paid for, is really no different than painting the restaurant customer as a "moaner and a whiner" because they ordered shrimp and got chicken, or paint an airline passenger a "moaner and a whiner" because they paid for a business class ticket and received a tourist class seat.

In business, businesses will do well when the customers are treated a bit like a king and customer service is excellent. It makes little sense to paint unhappy customers as misfits with personality problems, because diving is a service-oriented business, and there is nothing more important than happy (and safe) customers.

 

[lord khram]

I guess I have been very fortunate. I have done over 200 dives in Thailand (Koh Tao, Similans and Surin Islands) and have never come across what I would consider a bad or dishonest Dive Master or Dive operation. Have I had some bad Dives, yes, but I have also had bad dives in Cozumel, Honduras and Maui. That's how the cookie crumbles. Some people would rather complain then try to make the best out of a bad situation.

I myself have also done many hundreds of dives all around Thailand, and many other countries, and yes as everywhere due to weather or other circumstances beyond human control sometimes dives are not so good, in which case as you suggest I simply make the best of a bad situation, or opt not to dive and simply move on without complaint. Thats life, nothing is perfect.
But unless I am missing something, that is not the issue being discussed here, my general points of concern and it would appear that of others on these forums at the moment, are not being given what I purchased as is outlined above by funrecdiver, having diveguides that dont get the most possible for the customers from the dive situation for what ever reason, and having diveguides turn out in an unfit state due to their previous nights activities. If speaking out about that makes me a whinger and a moaner then yes I am number one and proud to be so.
Also we all have our own requirements and expectations from our diving and in the past for many years I and a group of friends generally organised and executed our own activities, rather than paying money and relying on others. We always with thorough planning and prudent organisation obtained the best possible from every dive be they good or bad locations and conditions. Maybe this is why my expectations seem to be greater than those of some others that post on here.

 

[mase]

If you read my post, I said "some people." I'm sure "some" customers have legitimate complaints. I have never dove in Pattaya, so I don't think it is appropriate for me to comment on that location,which seems to be the subject of many complaints on this board, that is why I identified where I have dived in Thailand. As previously said, my experience has always been positive.