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Phuket’s
Dive 0perators want Thais to Become Diving Professionals
No
less than 45 diving companies from Phuket, Khao Lak, Phi
Phi, Koh Lanta and Krabi once again, joined forces to
offer their complimentary services in training up Thai
Nationals to the first level of professional diver certification:
the Divemaster.
The idea behind this now annual project is to provide
the community, and not just on Phuket, with opportunity's
to become an active, responsible and professional member
of the diving community.
Scubacat's
Hilde shares a joke
with one of the future divemasters
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Paperwork, paperwork
Applicants
have to meet a handful of pre-requisites and this year
out of the forty-three that applied twenty-two were accepted
for the series of tests that would be the deciding factor
for acceptance on the course.
That's not to say that the number of courses on offer
were limited, there were places for all that met the required
entry levels. Swimming and communication skills are essential
components of acting as a responsible professional diver
and would play an important part in the selection process.
Norbet from Genesis Liveaboards and Holger from Sea Bees
ask the questions
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Andrea
from Santana shows the swimmers that not all mobile phones
are waterproof!
On
the 5th of April, nineteen Divemaster 'Wanabees' from
all over the country descended on the Dive Asia IDC centre
on Kata beach for the series of deciding tests.
First off was a written series of English language questions
based on two short stories followed by a simple translation
from Thai text. There was no time limit to its completion
and the questions were topically based on the diving around
Thailand. Next up were water skill tests such as swimming
and being able to stay on the surface without sinking,
followed by personal interviews with members of the DOCT
committee. At
the end of the day twelve diver students were accepted
for the complimentary education, which will commence on
May 1st 2003.
We at Thai Diver congratulate the successful candidates
and wish them well in their training and would like to
express our thanks to all the committee members involved
in this worthy and valuable project.
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