Thailand has numerous shipwrecks scattered around its long coastline, and ThaiWreckDiver.com provides a comprehensive overview of where to find them
Thailand is not only one of the world's most popular destinations to learn to scuba dive - see my previous post about Koh Tao - but it's also one of the premier spots for tech wreck diving. This is because there are numerous wrecks in the Gulf of Thailand which are fairly accessible from Pattaya and Koh Tao and also provide ideal training grounds for those earning tech wreck certifications. Just off Pattaya are two fascinating wrecks, the Khram and the Hardeep, which are at 30m and so can be enjoyed by non-decompression divers like myself. I dived the Khram a couple of months ago while in Pattaya and found it to be a fascinating wreck. (I'll be doing a full Pattaya report on Divehappy.com shortly).
Both the Khram and the Hardeep are amongst the wrecks featured on ThaiWreckDiver.com, a comprehensive overview of Gulf Of Thailand wrecks put together by Steve Burton, the resident Wreck Diver and Engineer at Pattaya's Mermaids Dive Centre. Steve is well known in the dive community as an authority on Thai shipwrecks and this site is a great example of the effort he has put into researching each of the wrecks that have been discovered so far. This research is important beyond the enjoyment of diving - several of the wrecks are war graves, like the submarine USS Legarto, and their discovery and respectful exploration by tech divers has allowed families to provide a fitting memorial to those who died.
As well as providing some memorable wrecks on which to cut your tech wreck teeth, Thailand also offers some of the cheapest diving courses as well - but conducted to international safety standards. While diving some of these wrecks is undoubtably challenging - just read the dive reports on the site - it's also a definite source of inspiration if you're interested in going deep...and making sure you come back safely.
Previously: Philippines - the WWII Wrecks of Coron Bay
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