LK's Pattaya Bash or I am a diver not a hairdresser crack head :-)

[funrecdiver]

I have recently been to Koh Chang intending to dive on most days of my holiday and went only once. Believe me I would have been glad of a change in destination, I simply could not believe the 2 dive sites that I was taken to.
How anyone can charge good money for two dives and take their customers to such locations that I saw is nothing but a joke.

I also had a bad experience in Koh Chang. Oddly enough, we were charged "extra" to be taken to the national marine park where we were guided over beds of broken coral and explained how the coral had been destroyed by local fisherman.

What a total waste of time and money.

On the second dive, where the coral was a bit better, there was a terrified snorkeler from one of those big snorkel-only boats who was standing on the reef trying to find a way to get back to his boat. He was obviously stressed out and afraid of the reef. One of the senior instructors on the boat started yelling and screaming at the terrified snorkeler, demanding he get off the reef. I watched in a kind of horror as this obvious inexperienced snorkeler was verbally abused by our DM for standing on a reef. Of course, standing on a reef is not good, but "terrified humans under stress have rights too", I thought quietly to myself!

Then, the nice Thai people on our dive boat sent the inflatable dingy out to pick up the snorkeler and nicely give him a lift back to his boat. The DM on our boat then yelled obscenities at the Thais for rescuing the under stress snorkeler.

What a great day of 2,500 Baht diving that was

 

[Batfish]

This switching of sites in Pattaya, does it happen THAT often.. hard to tell from Scubaboard as you tend to get the same couple of people repeatedly mentioning the same complaint.

Do dive shops in Pattaya book with each other?

I mean, if Dive Shop A has a trip heading to a shallow site, and Dive Shop B has a wreck trip - what happens if a customers goes to Dive Shop A asking for a wreck trip - will they book the customer on Dive Shop B's boat for some commission? That is largely what happens here, although I must point out that most of the regular posters on this board from Phuket are not boat operators but will book customers onto boats belonging to other dive shops who run boats. Boats all have different schedules and stick to the destinations on those schedules except in case of bad weather. So you can be very sure of getting the destination you wanted each day. If the boat is going to the King Cruiser Wreck tomorrow, the operator is NOT going to be booking snorkelers and Discover Scuba divers on that trip. Schedule says Wreck. Boat goes Wreck.

Can any Pattaya operator let me know if the dive shops there are happy to book a customer on a "competitors" boat so they can get exactly what they want?

The idea of competition is interesting and can be discussed more I am sure. So I am manager of a dive shop. Is Ringo or Steven my competitor? or should we in Phuket work together so more divers come here instead of Samui or Koh Tao.. and then again, should not all operators in Thailand work together to more divers come to Thailand instead of going to Bali or Mexico or .... and stepping up a gear, should not the entire dive industry realise that while each dive shop or destination competes with each other, our biggest competitor is golf, skiing, snowboarding, surfing, cycling etc... we want people to skip other sports and go diving, and we want them to enjoy it.

Have no idea what I am talking about now, must get back to php coding.

 

[lord khram]

This switching of sites in Pattaya, does it happen THAT often.. hard to tell from Scubaboard as you tend to get the same couple of people repeatedly mentioning the same complaint.

Do dive shops in Pattaya book with each other?

I mean, if Dive Shop A has a trip heading to a shallow site, and Dive Shop B has a wreck trip - what happens if a customers goes to Dive Shop A asking for a wreck trip - will they book the customer on Dive Shop B's boat for some commission? That is largely what happens here, although I must point out that most of the regular posters on this board from Phuket are not boat operators but will book customers onto boats belonging to other dive shops who run boats. Boats all have different schedules and stick to the destinations on those schedules except in case of bad weather. So you can be very sure of getting the destination you wanted each day. If the boat is going to the King Cruiser Wreck tomorrow, the operator is NOT going to be booking snorkelers and Discover Scuba divers on that trip. Schedule says Wreck. Boat goes Wreck.

Can any Pattaya operator let me know if the dive shops there are happy to book a customer on a "competitors" boat so they can get exactly what they want?

The idea of competition is interesting and can be discussed more I am sure. So I am manager of a dive shop. Is Ringo or Steven my competitor? or should we in Phuket work together so more divers come here instead of Samui or Koh Tao.. and then again, should not all operators in Thailand work together to more divers come to Thailand instead of going to Bali or Mexico or .... and stepping up a gear, should not the entire dive industry realise that while each dive shop or destination competes with each other, our biggest competitor is golf, skiing, snowboarding, surfing, cycling etc... we want people to skip other sports and go diving, and we want them to enjoy it.

Have no idea what I am talking about now, must get back to php coding.

Yes, the changing of requested/booked destinations, it does happen frequently in Pattaya.
Some of the smaller shops that do not have their own boats do indeed operate on larger shops boats.
Your idea of shops working together in this manner to give customers what they want to me sounds a good idea, but I am unaware myself if it does actually take place in the area.
Most shops here dont seem to have a fixed schedule, they just seem to operate randomly on a day to day basis, (maybe to suit the majority).I feel if they operated on a fixed schedule basis, as you quite rightly say, people could book on a particular day where the destination suited them, and actually get what they want. I feel sure it would result in more happy customers and less complaints and negative comments being posted on forums.

 

[Ex-Aquanaut]

For the record Batfish, we do operate a fixed schedule and go where we tell the customers we're going. Only unannounced changes are made due to high waves or strong winds that prohibit us from going where we intended.

As for booking on other boats... We don't. But if someone wants to do, say, Far Islands on day we're doing Near Islands, we'll recommend a shop to go to.

 

[vladimir]

I am a fairly regular visitor to Thailand, I have read through the whole thread, and I'm still confused: where is the best place to get a haircut in Thailand? Phuket or Pattaya?

 

[lord khram]

I am a fairly regular visitor to Thailand, I have read through the whole thread, and I'm still confused: where is the best place to get a haircut in Thailand? Phuket or Pattaya?

Definitely Pattaya.