After a disastrous year in 2013 with numerous marine accidents in Pattaya that took the life of too many foreigners and put many more in hospital Pattaya City Hall boosted by a large government grant are working hard to improve marine safety and emergency response procedures.
On the list this week it was the turn of a popular activity that operates on Koh Larn Island - The Sea Walker.
Khun Rankert Ekasing the deputy Mayor of Pattaya presided over a meeting at Pattaya City Hall to discuss with operators of the Sea Walker and the relevant officials from Pattaya Council who oversee marine safety.
There have been 12 accidents recently with foreign and Thai tourists involved in this underwater activity where tourists don a large metal helmet with an air line attached so they can descend to the sea floor to observe coral life.
In the diving world - the real world divers spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to become proficient in the use of this equipment. In Pattaya 5 minutes instruction in a language the tourist may or may not understand is all that is required to send a tourist down to the bottom of the sea.
Discussed at the meeting was the standards of diving equipment and the dive boats that they operate from. Of serious concern was the problems that frequently occur in communication between the tourists and tourists from many nations.
Pattaya City hall and the Sea Walker operators need to come up with acceptable standards and procedures to ensure safety for visitors to the Island.
All this is well and good - However would it not be prudent to shut down these operations until such time that these regulations are agreed on and the staff can be trained and enforcement procedures laid down. Of course this is not going to happen - this is Thailand and tourist dollars are more important than tourist lives.
