Why does Thailand get a bad rap??

[qwimjim]

Every time I see Thailand mentioned, people say Thailand diving isn't great, and that almost anywhere else in SE Asia would be better. Philippines is often recommended over Thailand, and then Komodo over Philippines. But I was just in the Philippines and I didn't experience any dive sites with anywhere near this kind of sheer density of fish, existence of soft coral, and it all shallow enough for it to be this bright and colorful:
This looks jaw dropping to me, I had nice dives in Coron (wrecks), Moalboal (sardines), Malapascua (thresher), Sibaltan.. but none of them had reefs teeming with life like that video. Heck, just looking at random Komodo dive trip videos, it doesn't look like any site comes close to this either. Only Raja Ampat videos seem to have this much action.. so why the bad rap? Is it just because it's one site only and the rest of the dive sites/areas are meh?

And If I'm going to Thailand, is there any reason to dive any other site? There's Similan islands liveaboards but you only spend one of 3 days at RR, the rest at Koh Bon and Koh Tachai. Instead should I drive up to Khura Buri and just do 2-3 days of daytrips to RR instead?

Also, if I go to Phi Phi for 3-4 days, is it worth diving at Koh Bida Nok? Or better to save my diving budget to have more time RR or Koh Bon/Tachai instead?

Thanks!

 

[Tippytoes12]

The glass fish make dives like Hin Muang and Hin daeng look really nice..We really liked the diving in Phi Phi and the Bidas are definitely worth a try for good macro and the chance of a leopard shark, who used to be in great numbers in this area but got finned. Thailand has had terrible bleaching episodes , and allowed divers and snorkellers thrash the reef. But it seems to have got its act together finally. We were very pleasantly surprised in 2019 with the macro in Ko Haa and Hin Muang Hin D, plentiful marine life and lots of soft corals, with the glassfish. I still prefer the Philippines though.

 

[Centrals]

... If I'm going to Thailand, is there any reason to dive any other site? There's Similan islands liveaboards but you only spend one of 3 days at RR, the rest at Koh Bon and Koh Tachai. Instead should I drive up to Khura Buri and just do 2-3 days of daytrips to RR instead?

Also, if I go to Phi Phi for 3-4 days, is it worth diving at Koh Bida Nok? Or better to save my diving budget to have more time RR or Koh Bon/Tachai instead?

Thanks!

1. Go to Khao Lak for the day trip to the Rock or Khao Sok Tropical Rain Forest.
2. Koh Lanta and Koh Lipe. Diving out from Koh Lanta is expensive but the island is far least touristy than Phi Phi. Koh Lipe is tiny but packed with tourists. Dive sites are a lot closer.

Southern Leyte in Philippines for your next visit.

 

[diveUAE]

Yes Richelieu rock is amazing!! Stunning corals and lots of fish action.

Koh Tarchai is also good and Koh Bon is ok.
Similan Islands imho not worth the trip.

Problem is, as you’ve already found out: Liveaboards only do 1 day at these sites - yet still many, many people dive there every day.
Gets a bit crowded.
Food in Thailand is way better than both Philippines and Indo (to us at least).

As you mentioned: stunning reefs is found in Raja Ampat (not sure now after the bleaching- can report back in August). Sipadan also had very vibrant colours when we dove there in 2008.

 

[lexvil]

The only problem, to popular, last February

It’s amazing a site can be so nice, loaded with so many varieties of fish and so many people.