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Words: Nat Sumanatemeya
Photos: Vinid Rangpueng and Nat Sumanatemeya
Divers easily encounter the neon liveliness of coral
beds and the sublime sightings of sea creatures
going about their business in the beautiful and rich
marine life of the Andaman Sea.
A gentle giant, the manta ray (Manta birostris)
greets a diver at Hin Daeng in Krabi, while
surrounding wrasse fishes start cleaning its body.
Giant manta rays eat plankton and a fully-grown
one can reach 5 metres in width.
The living seas of Thailand remain an awe-inspiring place to explore
among scuba divers. The Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea hosts
some of the largest variety of the world’s most fascinating fishes.
Enormous yet docile ones like the whale shark or small fishes like the ghost
pipefish inhabit clear waters with the backdrop of soft-coral reefs. The best
way to see the great and diversified marine life is to don a mask and oxygen
tank. In Thailand’s scuba diving history, the opening chance to develop
into one of the world’s best diving destinations arrived with the closing of a
military base.
Before scuba diving’s reputation as a recreational activity, it was first
introduced as a sport in the 1960s by the United States Air Force when they
established their military base in U-tapao, near Pattaya. Soon after the
Vietnam War and the departure of the United States’ military force from
Thailand, several American soldiers left the force and started their scuba diving
businesses. Certified scuba diving courses then became available throughout
the area and Pattaya became the first scuba diving centre in Thailand.
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