City, Thai Navy to Promote Pattaya as Wreck Destinations, Sink New Ones, Form Club

[Ex-Aquanaut]

Pattaya city officials, the Royal Thai Navy and the Tourism Authority of Thailand have joined forces to market Pattaya as a premier wreck-diving destination and with the formation of a new dive operator club and the sinking of another shipwreck within two years.

Tentatively called the Pattaya Dive Club, the association will promote all the city’s dive companies through a joint Internet website that will be advertised worldwide with funds from both the city and the dive operators.

At a Nov. 28 seminar at the DusitD2 Hotel in Pattaya, Pattaya Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome, TAT Pattaya office Director Niti Kongkrut, PADI Thailand Regional Director Hans Ulrich, Navy Capt. Chettha Jaipium and Dhorn Dhamrongsawasdi, advisor to the director of the Marine and Coastline Resources Department discussed ways to development a tourism plan to bring divers to Pattaya

Continued here:
Navy, Governments Join to Promote Pattaya as Wreck Diving Destination with New Pattaya Dive Club; Sinking of New Wreck Within 2 Years | Thailand Tech Diving

 

[stevenl]

So besides being a course director Hans is now a regional director. Am just wondering who he is going to direct.

Hope this is going to work though. Here on Phuket the dive operators club has unfortunately fallen apart after some years, hope things work better for you and you manage to get the reputation of being a premier wreck diving destination.

 

[Ex-Aquanaut]

Hans has mentioned to me a few times how similar operator clubs in Phuket and Koh Tao fell apart.

 

[lord khram]

This sounds a great idea. Pattaya is not exactly world renowned for its pristine reefs and prolific marine life, so such a project can only benefit diving in the area.
Lets just hope that, should the project go ahead it's success is not compromised by the actions of individuals and businesses for financial greed.

 

[Apecks]

It will be great if it happens but I cannot see the dive operators joining together or funding the dive club!

A new wreck would be great but I hope they position it somewhere better than the other two. Somewhere around Koh Rinn if they are going for Pattaya would be nice, even better if they sunk it down it Samesan.

Interesting to see PADI getting involved, I wonder what has happened to the CMAS TDA crowd? Fallen out of favour after the airplanes floated away?

 

[stevenl]

Interesting to see PADI getting involved, I wonder what has happened to the CMAS TDA crowd? Fallen out of favour after the airplanes floated away?

The CMAS/TDA crowd is pushed by a Phuket operator, whose only goal is to grow his own DC, hence the airplanes in his front yard. He is not in Pattaya, so the TDA won't care about this. On top of that, one of the big TDA financers has gone bust here on Phuket, so I guess they're out of the picture for the moment here as well.

 

[Ex-Aquanaut]

Some more details are available with the news the Navy has suggested sinking as many as 5 new wrecks in the next 10 years.

More Details Emerge on Navy, City Plan to Promote Pattaya: Up to 5 Wrecks in 10 Years

The Royal Thai Navy is prepared to sink as many as five wrecks to promote Pattaya as a wreck-diving tourist destination, according to Chesta Jaipiem, a Navy private-sector liaison who attended last month’s joint Pattaya-Tourism Authority of Thailand-Navy seminar on diving in Pattaya.

According to Robert Camp, the owner of Pattaya’s Adventure Divers who attended the Nov. 28 event at the DusitD2 Hotel, public agencies want to work together to preserve Pattaya’s marine resources, promote the city as a diving destination centered around wrecks and promote the city’s dive operators to spur tourism.

To do this, the Navy is prepared to start sinking additional ships as artificial reefs. The first could be sunk by the end of 2011 and, should public- and private-sector organizations work together, as many as four more over the next 10 years.

Continued: More Details Emerge on Navy, City Plan to Promote Pattaya: Up to 5 Wrecks in 10 Years | Thailand Tech Diving

 

[scuba Harry]

This is great news for everyone who wants to dive in Pattaya ,Hope all you dive owners get together on this and work as a team to promote wreck diving in Pattaya .

 

[Scubadoo360]

Yeah fingers crossed this all goes well, id really like to see a wreck sunk within or at the 18m OW limit giving more divers the chance to explore and offer longer bottom time on the wrecks

 

[jamiemac]

It will be great if it happens but I cannot see the dive operators joining together or funding the dive club!

A new wreck would be great but I hope they position it somewhere better than the other two. Somewhere around Koh Rinn if they are going for Pattaya would be nice, even better if they sunk it down it Samesan.

Interesting to see PADI getting involved, I wonder what has happened to the CMAS TDA crowd? Fallen out of favour after the airplanes floated away?

Can we have a wreck in Koh Tao,please? You lot have got loads and all ours are too deep for recreational divers.

Please,just the one, we'll take good care of it. One like the Khram would be perfect.

Did the airplanes really float away? Nothing left?