Russian honeymooner missing - Thailand
- Thread starter DandyDon
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Hmm . . .now that you mention Thailand again, perhaps I'm not quite so surprised after all. Can't remember exactly how many divers on same boat with me, but certainly more than a handful. Boats were very large though yet no matter the overall numbers, individual groups small. Some divers were with their instructors and/or other DMs. On a number of dives, despite numbers on the boat, I was alone on my dives with only my dedicated DM for company. If I look at it from that perspective, numbers on the boat may not have had anything to do eith the loss of this diver.
I'm confused. They name Karen Gapoyan, 50 then talk about he.... wonder if this is typical media mistake or just not a name I normally associate with a male.
Truth is sometimes it seems that more divers in the water create significant problems keeping track of your buddy in the crowd. I haven't dived in Thailand yet I haven't experienced those kinds of numbers on a boat dive yet. Guess I have been lucky.
Truth is sometimes it seems that more divers in the water create significant problems keeping track of your buddy in the crowd. I haven't dived in Thailand yet I haven't experienced those kinds of numbers on a boat dive yet. Guess I have been lucky.
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Well, he was from Russia. Different language, different alphabet, the possibilities are numerous. Maybe it's a masculine name, or just a foreign name his parents liked, etc. We named my daughteran unusual name just because we liked the sound of it, not having a clue what it may have meant in other countries?
All news English news stories do refer to him as a Russian man. This one says he entered the water with 7 other divers and an Instructor, but we've seen stories about divers going missing in shallow waters and small groups before. Excerpting from Russian Diver Missing In Chonburi Sea : Khaosod Online
159 dives is "extensive" experience? That said "entered the water with 7 other divers" is much better than "47".
159 dives and a dive site that averages 6m... he should be able to handle it.
As usual I doubt there will ever be answers to this one. Given the age and nationality of the victim I would not be surprised if he died due to a heart-attack brought on by having to resort to an inferior Thai product before the dive.
As usual I doubt there will ever be answers to this one. Given the age and nationality of the victim I would not be surprised if he died due to a heart-attack brought on by having to resort to an inferior Thai product before the dive.
Naughty gaijin.
mrx3000
Contributor
1. Karen Gapoyan is an Armenian male name. He must be of Armenian descent and a Russian citizen.
2. Thailand is currently one of the top destinations for Russian tourists. Because of that, dive boats routinely carry about 50% Russian speakers. Most dive guides on these boats are Russian too. So - unlikely to have any language difficulties.
3. Thai day dive boats are not at all like those in US. They are large vessels (some could also run multiple day charters). They can take up to 50-70 divers at one time. Divers are split into smaller groups (2-5 people the most common), each with a private dive guide. Dive guides usually are independent, and don't work for a dive boat.
4. As most dive sites are pretty far from where boats depart - dive trips last all day, and usually consist of 3 dives. Boat will depart at 9 am, spend 1.5-2 hours going to a dive site, then move between dive sites nearby during 1 hour surface intervals. At each dive site all divers (i.e. the entire boat) will enter the water. This is usually done in groups, slightly scattered in time and space. So it's correct to claim that a diver entered the water with 47 other divers (everyone on board) and also 7 (his group size).
5. They also get everyone on board fairly efficiently (although safety is not their number one priority, personally I am not a big fan of large boats maneuvering in close proximity to divers on the surface, or props spinning up as you try to hold on to the ladder and get out of the water).
6. They do feed you breakfast and lunch on those boats, though - which is how it lasts all day.
Sorry for the long post slightly off-topic, but there seemed to be so much divergent information I could not resist.
2. Thailand is currently one of the top destinations for Russian tourists. Because of that, dive boats routinely carry about 50% Russian speakers. Most dive guides on these boats are Russian too. So - unlikely to have any language difficulties.
3. Thai day dive boats are not at all like those in US. They are large vessels (some could also run multiple day charters). They can take up to 50-70 divers at one time. Divers are split into smaller groups (2-5 people the most common), each with a private dive guide. Dive guides usually are independent, and don't work for a dive boat.
4. As most dive sites are pretty far from where boats depart - dive trips last all day, and usually consist of 3 dives. Boat will depart at 9 am, spend 1.5-2 hours going to a dive site, then move between dive sites nearby during 1 hour surface intervals. At each dive site all divers (i.e. the entire boat) will enter the water. This is usually done in groups, slightly scattered in time and space. So it's correct to claim that a diver entered the water with 47 other divers (everyone on board) and also 7 (his group size).
5. They also get everyone on board fairly efficiently (although safety is not their number one priority, personally I am not a big fan of large boats maneuvering in close proximity to divers on the surface, or props spinning up as you try to hold on to the ladder and get out of the water).
6. They do feed you breakfast and lunch on those boats, though - which is how it lasts all day.
Sorry for the long post slightly off-topic, but there seemed to be so much divergent information I could not resist.
The purpose of the thread is to try to figure out how it happened and how to avoid similar events in the future. Understanding the process of diving where the incident happened helps us to get a clearer idea to base our analysis on. Thanks mrx3000. So are the groups diving in buddy pairs or small groups?
I can not imagine how awful it must be for Ms. Galina Telichkina Diving with your partner and losing them this way ... wow
I Have done 546 dives with my hubby as my buddy and in all those dives we have got separated only once. I have had difficulty on occassion identifying others underwater not being as familiar with their shape or dive gear particularly when there were a large number in a small area.
I can not imagine how awful it must be for Ms. Galina Telichkina Diving with your partner and losing them this way ... wow
I Have done 546 dives with my hubby as my buddy and in all those dives we have got separated only once. I have had difficulty on occassion identifying others underwater not being as familiar with their shape or dive gear particularly when there were a large number in a small area.