Hi

Don´t know if this is the right place to post, but probably all you living in Thailand knows everything about this.

My question is what rules apply for using mooring buoys and anchoring at diving, snorkeling and fishing sites around the Pattaya area?

Are the buoys found at diving sites strictly for use by commercial big diving boats or are they for everyone?

Are there any rules for anchoring? Or is the rule as usual, just to chose a spots were you are sure not to hit or destroy any corals, i.e. on sandy areas?

Are there any other special rules for National parks or military owned land in the area?

Best Regards Peter

I'm not sure what the rules are, but I can tell you that a lot of sites don't have buoys, and some operators don't care where they drop anchor. Last weekend we found a Dive South East Asia boat had smacked an anchor down on the coral at Hat Nguan. I was diving with a different shop, and the guys said "this happens all the time" and "we've talked to them about it but they just don't care".

Another time, we saw one boat (forgot which one) get their divers to sit down on a bit of coral in a line and pass a captive turtle along. Disgraceful!