Advice needed por favor: Moving to Thailand / Asia for a couple of years...

[Ste Wart]

I taught largely in Malaysia and happily dived in only a rash vest and boardies. Being cold wasn't such a big deal as as soon as you get out of the water it's lovely and warm.

If you are worried about work permits try the Perhentian Islands in Malaysia. Season runs Feb to October, although there is very few people there when the season conflicts with Thailand's. So April to September is better for earning. No-one checks work permits regularly and we always had advance warning of immigration raids as it was 30minutes from the dock to the islands, plenty of time for a phone call. Standard Visa is 3 months, so less renewal costs for visa runs when compared to the monthly run you would have to do when trying the same in Thailand.

I will add I had a work Visa my 2nd time in Malaysia.

 

[Quero]

When I worked in Malaysia, getting a work visa wasn't such a huge problem (it's not a separate document like it is in Thailand). It has consistently been more bureaucratic in Thailand, though still not terrible, and now I've got a 2-year B visa + 1 year WP, which is very nice since I do NO visa runs at all.

As for the water temperature, we don't have those big thermoclines. Once in a while we'll get a cool stream of water, but even that isn't so frequent. Mostly the water is quite warm top to bottom. I get chilled fairly easily, and I really haven't needed more than a 3mm except on night dives when putting on a damp wetsuit in the cooler night air left me pre-chilled. My solution for that has been simply to have a dry rash guard to put on first, and then I still don't need more than a 3mm. I guess it mostly comes down to whether you are willing to pack and carry the 5mm with you. I took a 5mm to Lembeh last month, and I'll be taking a 5mm to Maldives next week, but here I'm happy in a 3mm. As they say, though, YMMV. You need to weigh all the factors as they apply to you individually--expense of investing in a 3mm vs your propensity to feeling chilled in just a rashie vs packing weight/bulk of a 5mm and what you're willing to lug around vs the water temps of all the places you want to visit, etc.

 

[kaerius]

Is that 28C at 'depth'? That warmest I've dived was 31C in Menorca in my 5mm (which was fine ... much rather be a bit too warm than a bit chilly to be honest), but they get amazing thermoclines there though - most of the dive was about 25C (and at 40m it was about 20C). If I can get away with not lugging my 5mm around I will.

Thailand generally has 28°C at depth yes, though if you're there in september-november or so, you may find as low as 26°C, it's the coldest time of year. That's your 40m bottom temp.