07/31/2008 20:31:24

Hey Martin--Sorry I didn't see this sooner. I've been away from the office most of the low season.

We did get some pretty rotten weather after the cyclone that struck Burma. Some of my customers were on a charter boat whose tranny broke due to rough seas and had to be "rescued" by a different dive boat (yikes!), and lots & lots of trips were cancelled. Now it's just regular low season weather--the boats go out every day.

As for freelance work, you need a work permit to work on Phuket. Some other islands are not so much in the spotlight and the ops can get away with giving work to undocumented instructors, but not here on Phuket. You could try Phi Phi (the Phi Phi ops are ALWAYS looking for instructors on since the ones who start out there go stir crazy and leave), or you can go to the Gulf and get work there without papers, but the diving is generally thought to be better on the Andaman side.

05/11/2008 01:24:35

liveandletsdive wrote: Hi, how is the diving in Phuket at the moment? Just wanted to know if the weather from Burma has hit you guys down in Phuket? Can I also ask was it easy to get some freelance work in Thailand? Martyn

 

Not sure what the weather is like caues I left there 3 weeks ago but imagine they are getting some rain... not to mention it is the rainy season in phuket right now. but the diving is great. think i heard alot of instructor were leaving so it might be a good low season to be kickin around there for work. but I had a great highseason. not crazy busy or anything, steady, but I liked the diving and the boats I was on. you interested in heading over there?

 

anyways probably better to email me canuck_downunder05@hotmail.com don't get on here as much lately because of travel! anyways take care and speak soon!

02/14/2008 16:18:38

Hi

Im about to leave Thailand, to move to Algarve. 8 years there is long enough.

 

But is a great place to experience and work

 

Good Luck Maria

09/25/2007 08:12:12

hey there...
saw you had popped your head in...so thought id come and check you out...(again)
derby!!!???is that near manchester???always confuse derby and devon!!!

09/23/2007 09:05:51

hello!
it's time to visit DA again
points have been re-set so it's a level playing field!
good luck :)

09/21/2007 23:25:48

08/21/2007 00:54:12

you're welcome. I hope it was useful

08/19/2007 22:10:45

Hi Martyn

Diving in Thailand, well in Pattaya at least, isn't too bad right now. It's a bit windy and there have been a lot of jellys around over the past  couple of days, but viz is reasonable since we haven't had much rain for about a week. I'm still finding my feet on this site as well as I don't use it as often as a lot of other people do. 

I've been out here 2 and a half years, originally came to do DM and IDC/ IE then hung around and got offered a job. As for hi and low points, well... the conditions aren't the greatest, average viz is 5-8 metres, 1-2 metres on a bad day and 15 on a good day, although we don't get that very often. We also have a lot of strong currents up here as we are at the top of the gulf, but it makes from some great drift dives and is a great training ground. We have some great wrecks, and some good reefs, although this area is overfished which means the abundance of marine life isn't as great as in other parts of Thailand. If you like a challenge then it's a great place to be. It can be hard to find work, or more to the point to work legally as it is quite difficult to get a work permit and the Thai authorities have made a lot of visa changes and are introducting new legislation regarding the dive industry and foreigners.

The Thai people are generally very friendly and tolerant and the cost of living is cheap

08/11/2007 17:20:56

good day

08/04/2007 21:45:00

Welcome to DiveArea!    I am sure you will enjoy it here      tons of great people all working together to educate, inform, share and delight each other   Have fun!