Many divers may have unintentionally destroyed corals while diving.
Here are a few guidelines of how to avoid doing so.

• Use correct amount of weights to aid in your buoyancy.

• Control your fins; keep them away from the reefs and avoid kicking sand onto the corals

• Do not pick organic objects (dead or alive) from the sea. Likewise, please do not buy shells or other decorative products made from sea animals.

• Do not stand or rest on the stone-like corals. After all, they are living animals.

• Avoid having contacts with live corals. You can kill them with bare hands.

• Keep your gauge and octopus hoses close to yourself, and prevent angling to the reef.

• Secure your weight belt. Dropping of the weights can destroy the reef.

• Refrain from chasing or touching animals, especially manta rays and whale sharks. However, maintain a comfortable distant and enjoy watching them!


source Reference : Tourism Authority of Thailand
source Photo :
Harava's photos

Quake felt in Bangkok many people called in the Nation's newsroom to check what happened.

Bangkok, Jakarta - The Indonesian government has called off a tsunami warning after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake jolted parts of Indonesia's Java and Sumatra islands on Wednesday evening.Officials at the Jakarta Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said they withdrew the warning because too much time had passed for a tsunami to reach shore.

A powerful earthquake jolted parts of Indonesia's Java and Sumatra islands on Wednesday evening, prompting Indonesian government authorities to issue a tsunami warning. The earthquake was triggered by the same fault that heavily shook the region and generated the tsunami in 2005

"This is very dangerous situation. We have to watch our coasts more closely. My department is on alert to monitor the situation, so that we could warn our people before it happens," Suparuek Tansrirattanawong, chief othe department said.

The quake, measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale, took place at about 6:10 pm (1110 GMT), shaking Jakarta, West Java's Banten province, parts of South and West Sumatra, said Fauzi, an official at Jakarta's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency.

"We have issued a warning that the quake could potentially trigger a tsunami," Fauzi told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. In Bangkok, a resident of Sukhumvit 103 meanwhile said that the water in her swimming pool flown in the same manner as the last tsunami and it lasted some five minutes.

She then checked the local news if there was any report of earthquake somewhere.Piyarat Chuenprasaeng, a call center staff of AIS who works on the 31st floor of the 42-floor Phaholyothin Place, said staff on the floor were frightened by the tremor.

Dpa reported that the quake took place about 159 kilometres south-west of the South Sumatran province of Bengkulu and was about 10 kilometres beneath the seabed.

No immediate casualties or injuries were reported.Indonesia is located along the Pacific volcanic belt known as the "Ring of Fire," where earthquakes and volcanoes are common.

On December 26, 2004, a massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake, which triggered gigantic tidal waves, devastated thousands of homes and buildings along the coastline of northern Sumatra, leaving around 170,000 people dead or missing in Indonesia and thousands more dead and injured along the Indian Ocean coastline.

source Reference : The Nation/Dpa

Location : About 5km. northwest of Nang Yuan.
Depth : Average 20m. / Maximum 36m.

This is Koh Tao's most impressive site, and certainly one of the most popular. Divers revisiting the island always enquire as to when the earliest scheduled trip to Chumphon Pinnacles is!

The site consists of 4 interconnected underwater pinnacles which tower up form around 34m; the highest peaks are 16m. Below the surface. This is an ideal place to spot many pelagics. Large schools of great barracuda, big-eye jacks, tuna, mackerel, goldbody and giant trevally are all frequent visitor. Whale sharks, with accompanying striped than any other site in the Gulf.

Bulky Grey reef sharks are seen in the depths away from the base of the rocky structure.

Grey Reef Shark diving Chumporn Pinnacle

& whale shark

source Reference : PocketGuide DiveThailand
source Photo :
takau99's photos