Thailand - general info on 3 month travel. please!

[subaquaman]

Hi guys,

I've been lurking around this forum for a few weeks now and have finally decided it's time to put my cards on the table. There has been some great information given about diving and working around Thailand on other threads but I'm hoping you might be able to help me customise it. I appreciate your time and any info you give. :05:

I'm a PADI Assistant Instructor and have worked in a Dive Centre in Ireland for the last three years.

A friend of mine has travelled to Phuket on New Year's Day to do his IDC there. He will be there until mid June. Talking to him since, he is not enjoying it. The course is run like a conveyor belt and the area he is in (Ko Patong) sounds fairly run down. I had originally planned on joining him when college ended in mid May and completing my IDC with the same centre but obviously my plans have changed! eyebrow

Anyway I don't want to let this affect my summer in Thailand which I was looking forward to. I still plan on flying to Bangkok in mid-May but where do I go from there? :huh: I was hoping to get some work as an Instructor/Divemaster with a good centre and good people. I am quite experienced with a lot of challenging dives under my belt and have not lost my enthusiasm for the sport- if anything it has grown from day one. I just want to dive somewhere new with new people and also pass on the skill to others while I'm at it.

I have the option of doing my IDC here before I travel but this way, I don't expect to be able to walk into a centre and get a job. If I do the IDC in Thailand I will get to meet people and go from there!

Since I'm going into a ramble I'll stop there.

I'm asking where would be good for diving with the possibility of a job between mid May and early August? What about Patong? Phi Phi or other islands? Koh Tao? Is there an IDC you would recommend or should I do it before I leave? What else should I do over the 2-3 months in Thailand that is unmissable? What should I expect cost of living wise? Is there anything else I should be considering?! :huh:

Thanks!

 

[Quero]

It sucks that your friend is having a poor IDC experience in Patong (a town on Phuket Island). But there are many IDCs on Phuket, so it stands to reason that there would be a wide range of satisfaction among candidates.

I attended one that is known to be outstanding, and I mentioned it in another recent thread (Koh Tao Alternatives, I think the thread was called, if you want to look it up). I did my IDC at Dive Asia with Bjorn Tackmann. Bjorn has been rated one of the top CDs in Southeast Asia for many years running, with consistently high pass scores among his IE candidates. I think he's in the top ten worldwide. Bjorn sets his program up to allow for a lot of personal attention in whatever area the candidate needs it. Dive Asia holds IDCs every month of the year, though the period you mentioned is not the best time to dive around Phuket (but surely can't be worse than Ireland before May!). I'm sure others on the board can vouch for other CDs who run good IDCs on Phuket.

The Dive Asia facility is located down the coast from Patong on the western side of the island, near Kata Beach, and housing is included in the IDC cost for candidates. Kata is a quieter town than Patong, but is still busy enough to offer food/entertainment options without so much sex trade business going on as there is in Patong. If you want more detailed impressions of Dive Asia/Bjorn, just pm me.

 

[subaquaman]

Thanks for the info Quero. PM sent. Dive Asia and Bjorn does look promising. The only thing is that I'd be flying out around the 20th of May (can't go any earlier because of exams) and hence miss the May IDC and have to wait till mid July. I was hoping to fly home around the 10th of August and travel for my last two weeks as a friend so maybe I should find an IE elsewhere in Thailand that is run in June or late May... can anyone help?

 

[tkring]

Only word of adivce ... check your passport expiration date and other documents required for Thailand.

 

[subaquaman]

Thanks tkring. I've done a lot of the basic stuff but it's always good to double check. Passport expires 2007 and I can get a Visa when I land, or so I've been told!

Just a quick update: I'm now nearly certain I will do my IDC in Ireland and then travel to Koh Tao for the summer. I'd like your opinions on this... wise idea or no?!

 

[Phil TK]

Thanks tkring. I've done a lot of the basic stuff but it's always good to double check. Passport expires 2007 and I can get a Visa when I land, or so I've been told!

Just a quick update: I'm now nearly certain I will do my IDC in Ireland and then travel to Koh Tao for the summer. I'd like your opinions on this... wise idea or no?!

Your visa on arrival will last for one month and is issued as you get your passport stamped- it's free. You can get a 2 month one if you apply to a Thai embassy before you enter the country. DON'T get a visa extended from any of the visa 'agents' in thailand no matter how many assurances you get from them. Before your one month is up, do a 'visa run' to Burma or other neighbouring country -then you will get another months visa on your way back in. A visa run from Koh Tao for example takes just one day (albeit, a very long one)
I would do the IDC in Thailand, but kick off with a week or two of DM work first then you will get a feel for the dive op and the sort of punter you'll be teaching over there.
Things unmissable? Well, I heard a rumour that Singapore Airlines are doing FREE flights on to Bali if you buy a ticket to Singapore, which wouldn't make a bad visa run for a week or so! (I did Bali from Thailand early last year before the offer came into being....damn!). Bali has great diving and it's very cheap, you can get a mind blowing place to stay for small money. Worth a thought.
Phil TK

 

[subaquaman]

Hi Phil,

Thanks for the advice. My plan would be to arrive late May and do two visa runs (1 june, 1 july) and am then meeting up with a friend in late July, early August. We're hoping to do Ankor Wot and Chiang Mai etc (any other recommendations btw?) but even if we don't I'd be leaving before the need for a third visa run. As a matter of interest (not that I'm planning on it ) how bad is it if your visa expires???

It's now fairly definite I will do my IDC here. My mate in Thailand reckons it would be much more beneficial then the sort of thing he is putting up with. While I know that not all IDCs are the same and he likely has come across a bad crop, the financial end of it is a big motivator for me too. It'd be much more for me to do it abroad.

Finally I haven't heard about that offer Singapore Airlines are running although I know they are running flights to BKK from Dublin at the time I'm leaving for around €550 ex. taxes. For an airline with such a good reputation this is great value!

Anyway I'm still open to all and any advice!

 

[Belushi]

I worked with Bjorn Tackman at Dive Asia, and I can vouch for him as well.
If the IDCs are still done in either Kata or Karon (I cannot remember which one) then the setup is the epitome of German efficiency.
Dive Asia are an excellent group of people who have a lot of time to help out and give advice.

The visa run thing is a bit of fun. I used to go up to the Myanmar border with a group of mates and catch a long boat over to the border post in the middle of the river and there was always that moment when the border guard gave you a long hard stare when he was looking at your passport ... <gulp>

If you want a story about using the "agents"

http://www.dunx.net/Stories/Me and leo home.htm

This is when I was leaving Thailand after some very happy times ... I have just read it again after about three years of forgetting about it and it still brings back a wobble

 

[subaquaman]

Hi guys,

Once again thanks for all your help. Belushi read through your story- it's great! Well written too- thanks!

Bjorn and Dive Asia do seem to come highly recommended and I have been in touch with an old contact in Koh Tao who has tried to encourage me to do my IDC there. However, I know I will get a very good IDC here without any hassle and with people I know. I had wanted to do it abroad to meet some new people in the same situation I am but after researching it for the last 4 months I'm fairly decided on doing it here.

My friend in Phuket has been in touch to say his course is improving and he's enjoying it. Also much more confident about the IE but he intends to head to Phi Phi after it in search of a job. If he stays here, I'd consider heading there for a bit but at the moment it's looking like it'll be Koh Tao.

Aside from working though, I'd really like to just dive the Similans. How many days would I need to do this? If I'm travelling late May until late July what is best time to do the Similans? Anybody any operators they'd suggest?

Thanks again!

 

[Quero]

Most Similans liveaboards run 4 to 5 days; some are longer, very few shorter. Although many of the boats will have ended their Similans seasons by May, there will still be a few boats going out then. May is when we expect the rains to be coming to Phuket, which can mean rough seas, so if you have from May to July for your Thailand trip, dive the Andaman side as early as you can and dive the Gulf side later. In any case, you will love Thailand.