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Cambodia still isn't known for its Adventure Scuba Diving. Holiday travelers are pleasantly surprised when they find out that there is diving in Cambodia. In fact there are 5 dive operators, 2 that are fully certified PADI Dive Centers. EcoSea is also a SSI Dive Center, the only one in Cambodia ....so far!

When the divers get a chance to see the reef they are mostly surprised at the number of fish and that the coral is intact. When the divers do a adventure scuba diving trip to Koh Tang they are even more impressed with the great dive conditions. Cambodia will soemday be a destination for holiday scuba divers once the area is better supported with infrastructure at the Koh Tang group. If you have dived here I would love to hear your comments on the diving there.

We are starting to see these butterfly fish more often here in Cambodia and we are hoping that we will schools of them soon.

We have people allways asking us about the dynamite and other distructive fishing pratices in Cambodia, so I will put here what we are seeing and hearing. The bad news Yesterday I heard a single blast while I was diving at Koh Rung Samleom which is the main day dive area for Cambodia. The dynamite blast was very faint so I am estimating that it could have come from as far away as Thailand or Vietnam with the better guess being Vietnam my guess is that the blast was in the Koh Tang Group or Condor Reef.

The good news is this is the first blast that I have heard in over 6 months, for the in close reefs we have heard only 2 blasts in 2 years. When we are out at Koh Tang we still hear blasts but they are much less that in the past. For people thinking of coming to Cambodia to Dive yes we have lots of fish and lots of coral that is undisturberd more and more we are seeing fish that we were not seeing in the past we are also seeing alot more bigger fish.

At 26/06/2006, you wrote: Dear Charlie, Thank you for your cry out and your contacting. I just had a meeting in Bangkok held by Tourism Development Office, Min. of Tourism and sport. The meeting aims to gather comment about how to regulate the diving business in Thailand and the regulation is aim to set a standard for dive operator. This may be the good news for you. You and I are also concern about the regulations that may not good to the business, I did wonder there was no dive operator in the meeting. But do not worry because I also have some idea from you and concern for all dive operators. I will inform you and the TDO again when they call for another meeting to finalize the regulation. Signed: S....-------------------------------------------------------------Sawatdee Khrap,In fact, all that fuss is coming directly from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports in order to set up new standards and regulations for the dive industry in Thailand.Phuket will be a pilot project before implanting the new standards and regulations to other coastal provinces in Thailand.The meeting with Phuket Governor on Wednesday 26 July 2006 is a public hearing where he will listen the complaints from all sides in order to set up rules and controls of dive businesses in Phuket for setting new standards and regulations.Khun Nitti from TAT Bangkok will be in charge for TAT Headquarter in Bangkok to make a survey and set up recommendations and rules for controlling the dive industry in Thailand.He will meet the Phuket Governor on the coming week-end and will be at the 2 day seminar on Monday 24 and Tuesday 25 July 2006 organized by Phuket Marine Biological Center as well at the meeting with Phuket Governor on Wednesday 26 July 2006 at Phuket City Hall (10:00).The seminar will be organized by Phuket Marine Biological Center at the ST Hotel (Phuket Town).The topic will be about protection and recreational regulations in order to protect and save coral reefs in Thailand.The seminar will be conduct in Thai and English as well by different speakers.PHUKET MARINE BIOLOGICAL CENTEROrganiser: Khun Paitoon (Mobile: 01 537 00 47)Speaker: Khun Niphon PONGSUWAN (Mobile: 09 472 98 63 & E-mail: niphonph@gmail.com)CONSERVATION RESOURCE SEA AND SHORE CENTERTel: 076 393 566Mobile: 01 537 00 47T.A.T SOUTHERN OFFICE, REGION 473-75 Phuket Road,Tambon Rassada, Amphur Muang,Phuket 83000 THAILANDTel: 076 212 213Contact: Kanokporn (Ann) CHANTANAMobile: 09 177 08 62E-mail: "Kanokporn" So all dive centers, Dive operators, Boat operators, dive suppliers, Divemasters, Instructors, Tour-leaders should be informed by e-mail as soon as possible about the dual language use during the two day seminar in order to get those in charge of divers on day dive trips and liveaboards to be present at that decisive meeting.All decisions following that 2 meetings will be applied for whole Thailand sooner or later.Best Regards, Wonderful Sea, Safe Bubbles and Safe Diving in Phuket, Thailand.Guy (Charlie) LIDUREAU ><)))*> Instructor CMAS 2* & Instructor NAUI.-------------------------------------------------------------http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=5110Wednesday, July 19, 2006 Gov calls meeting for dive industry regulationPHUKET: Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura will convene a public hearing to discuss impending changes aimed at regulating the islands dive industry, some members of which have come under suspicion of evading taxes and employing foreign nationals without work permits.Phuket Provincial Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Nivit Aroonrat told the Gazette on July 18 that the Governor has accepted the general concept of bringing the dive industry under closer provincial scrutiny, but that he first wants to hear the opinions of the dive industry and relevant government agencies before putting new regulations in place.If we have a clear understanding from the beginning, it will prevent problems from arising in the future, he said.Invitation letters for the hearing will be issued to all related organizations, including dive operators, dive associations, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, tourism associations, relevant government offices and the media, he said.The meeting will take place at Phuket Provincial Hall, starting at 10 am on July 26.Phuket, Thailand 17:48 local time (GMT +7)--------------------------------------------------------------http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?fromsearch=yes&Id=5046 Friday, June 16, 2006Dive industry facing tough new rules by Janyaporn MorelPHUKET: Phukets Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Nivit Aroonrat has submitted a proposal the Governor Udomsak Uswarangkura that all dive businesses on the island must register with the provincial government in order to ensure that they pay taxes in full.The proposal is seen by its supporters as a pilot scheme that, if successful, would be expanded to all other coastal provinces in Thailand.If the Governor gives his nod to the idea, dive shops will have 30 days to register. Thereafter, they will have to provide specific details of their operations - including how many foreigners they employ and whether the foreign employees have work permits along with minute details of how they make their money, and how much they make.The proposal is based on recommendations by a committee, headed by Palad Nivit, which was set up amid allegations that many dive businesses run by foreigners on the island are evading tax.PERMITPalad Nivit told the Gazette, [If the Governor approves the proposal] every dive company will have to register at the Phuket Marine Office within 30 days [of the order being issued by the Governor].At the end of 30-day registration period, the operation will move into Stage 2, also of 30 days. During this period, operators who have registered must provide all the documentation demanded of them and apply for a permit to operate a dive business in Phuket.Dive operators will have to declare all information about their businesses, such as the number of boats they have, how many dive trips they make a day, how payments for dive trips are received, the number of employees in the company, how many foreign employees they have and whether those foreign employees have work permits or not, and so on, he added.Phuket Marine Office Chief Surin Theerakulpisut said, We are waiting for the Governor to sign the order before we will announce to the dive operators that they have 60 days to complete the process.Dive operators will have to show us every bit of information about their businesses, including how they operate. For example, if companies have websites, they will have to inform us.They will also have to declare how they receive payments, and show us all their accounts. This way we will know how much revenue they receive, so that we can work out how much tax they should pay.K. Surin added that the Phuket dive industry is believed to generate about 3 billion baht in revenue a year. The province has never received all the taxes that it should get from them, and these new rules will help us to collect taxes in full" he said."The plan will first be introduced in Phuket," he added. "We will monitor feedback and will spread the idea to other provinces soon."Several crucial points are unclear at this stage: precisely what information will be required; what penalties will be imposed on those who do not comply; whether dive operators will be allowed to continue working during the 60-day process; and how long it will take for permits to be issued.One dive operator, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, "I'm not sure why they are doing this. They already get all this information from us. We have to be registered with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, and we have to have a properly established Thai company, so they have all our financial information, and we pay all our taxes."PERPLEXEDHe was perplexed by the dive-industry revenue figure cited by K. Surin. "To make 3 billion baht a year means [the industry in Phuket] would have to handle about 2,000 divers a day," he said.Pakorn Katekan, Secretary of Diving Association of Thailand told the Gazette, "I think it's good that the province is moving to control the business."The Government, however, should also do more research into the diving industry.""The provincial authorities should provide more facilities for these operators such as establishing a safety center for when there is an accident or helping them by offering travel promotions. They should not just ask for taxes.""Diving is a special business that needs specialists. Not everyone can run dive courses: customers must have confidence in their instructors."If Phuket squeezes dive operators so much that they have difficulty running their businesses, then they may leave the island."I think the province should take into consideration the opinions of dive operators and diving associations. Also, the rules should be in force all over Thailand, not only in Phuket. Regulations should be issued by the central government, not by just one province."At the time of going to press, Gov Udomsak had yet to announce wether he would back the proposal.----------------------------------------------------------------http://www.phuketgazette.com/news/index.asp?id=4938Tuesday, April 11, 2006Rougher seas ahead for Phukets dive industryPHUKET CITY: A newly formed committee met at Phuket Provincial Hall on April 5 to discuss recent developments in the dive industry, particularly accusations leveled at the industry that some dive operators have been evading tax and employing staff without work permits.Phukets Chief Administrative Officer (Palad) Nivit Aroonrat, claimed after the meeting that Phukets dive industry is concealing facts and that the government does not have enough overall information about operators and their employees.He said that, despite the fact that the dive industry is an important part of the islands tourism industry and is a rich source of income, the government should regulate operators more rigorously.He pointed out that the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is responsible for dive operators registration, but that it records only the number of boats, the diving equipment and the number of dive masters employed.The TAT at first asked why the dive industry had suddenly become an issue as they are the ones who are supposed to regulate it. Yet when I asked if they knew if every dive master had a work permit or not, they admitted that they had never checked. The second question I brought up was whether import tax had been paid for their diving equipment or not. They had to admit that they hadnt checked on that either.Also, does the TAT know how much coral is destroyed when [dive companies] go on diving trips? And does the TAT know how much we spend every year on restoring and looking after coral? Even though the dive industry says that they spend money here, [the amount is] nothing compared with the cost of coral upkeep.K. Nivit said that the committee had come to the conclusion that the province will have to take effective measures to control dive operators; to check their taxes and work permits, and the amount of damage they may have caused to coral.He added, Id like these measures to be implemented this month, but we still have more issues to discuss.He said that the province will set up a committee to check and regulate dive operators before they are even eligible to register with the TAT. The task of the committee will be to check boat registration, work permits, import taxes, the length, quality and safety of diving courses, whether companies have Thai employees or not and, if so, whether they comply with Thai labor laws.

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