A new generation of divers

Wicked Diving - Making a difference

For many years now, Wicked Diving has supported the Foundation for Education and Development (FED) in their efforts to promote education, human rights and the development of a safe working environment for Burmese migrants and their families. There is a large community of migrant workers from neighboring Burma (Republic of the Union of Myanmar) living and working in the area around Khao Lak. Their children receive little education and one of FED’s main goals is to provide these children with a solid education that will help them in their future lives. Our focus has mainly been on supporting their Youth Outreach Programme, a project that aims to provide some of the students of their various learning centers with an opportunity to continue their studies at a higher level.
Next to financial support, Wicked Diving organizes regular lectures on various topics such as the marine environment, recycling and the marine life that can be found on our local reefs. For several years, we have also organized a beach clean-up on a local beach, Khao Nayak, which is the first passing point for every boat that sails out to the Similan Islands from the harbor in Tublamu.
This year, together with FED, we have planned to set up a unique program to train some of their students up to the level of Dive Guide. The idea behind this program is to offer some of these candidates the opportunity to develop a career in the dive industry, as opposed to landing a job in low-paying construction, plantations or fisheries.

The first step was to find some suitable candidates that have the right motivation, the skills and a good grasp of English to enroll in the program. Next to that, they had to be 18 years or older and be comfortable in the water. After this small selection process and asking permission from the parents, FED decided to put forward three candidates for the program; Myo Min Set, Aung Ko Chaing and Myintzu Aye.
As any new diver they will start with the Open Water Course and we will evaluate their progress and achievements along the way. The goal is to train them up to Advanced Divers this season and get their number of dives up. After that, we will continue with the Rescue Diver course. If all goes well, we will enroll them in our Dive Guide program. Step by step…

So without further ado, meet the new generation of Dive Masters from Burma:
Myintzu Aye
Born in Mandalay, the last kingdom of Burma, Myintzu now lives in Thailand, together with her brother.

Since the first time she heard about the program, she got very excited to join and learn to dive. She has almost finished her studies at the Youth Outreach Program and will be busy with other studies, but we agreed to at least train her up as an Open Water Diver. And maybe she likes it enough to continue the program….

Asked why she wants to learn to dive, she says: I would like to go underwater and study the marine plants and animals. I believe I will be satisfied to see the images inside the sea. I will be a friend with the marine life. So, I want to be a trainee at Scuba Diving.



Aung Ko Chaing
Chai Chai (as most of his friends call him) is from the Prgaryee village, close to the city of Tavoy in the Southern part of Burma called the Tanintharyi Division. This coastal division of Burma is neighboring Thailand and is home to the Mergui Archipel, a group of 800 islands that offer great diving, isolated beaches and some stunning scenery.

As a kid, Chai Chai liked to swim in the river everyday and he has always felt happy in the water. He came to Thailand when he was fourteen and studied for two years at the Youth Outreach School. When the staff of Wicked Diving came to give a lecture and told them who they are and what they do, he wanted to become a diver too. He would like to see many fish and become a good divemaster.



Myo Min Set
Also called MMS or Japu, he was born in Thailand and went back with his family to Burma when he was 5 years old. After 7 months they went back to Thailand where they stayed for 2 more years before returning back to Burma again.

Since 2006 Jepu is back in Thailand with his family and he joined the FED where he studied in the BangNiang learning center and later joined the Youth Outreach Project. Since he spent part of his youth in Thailand, he speaks and reads very good Thai.

He wants to become a divemaster and learn about the fish, coral reef and how important the sea is for the humans



None of this would be possible without you - our guests and friends. As part of our Ethical Dive Center program - 2% of all our proceeds got to support projects that improve our local community and environment. This course comes at no cost to the kids. When you dive with Wicked - you make a difference.

We will keep you posted on the rest of the course!


-Wicked Diving, Khao Lak