David Strike wrote:


> Regrettably, the world's two major areas for
> intro dives - Thailand and the GBR - follow an altogether different
> path.

I had no idea that Thailand was in the top two, but it doesn't surprise me.
And Thailand is a country where it is basically impossible to litigate
against a shop or an instructor if you have signed the forms. I personally
know of two suits that were thrown out of court the minute the forms were
presented as evidence of assumption of risk. I know of one case that was
successful, and only because the instructor was not actually certified as an
instructor. He was convicted of fraud!

> In part, caused by the system of payment for a majority of diving
> instructors. i.e. a small wage topped up by 'commission' on the
> number of people that they certify in this fashion.

Yep.

> It sometimes gets even worse - to my way of thinking - with many
> places countenancing up to six intro divers when a DM is present; a
> ratio that - in a sense - puts an even greater onus of responsibility
> onto the Instructor who, while having the nominal protection of being
> within agency, (and, where applicable, Code of Practice) standards
> still has to accept the personal consequences of subsequently coping
> with the situation should it turn to shit!  :-)

That's my point exactly, and why I detest people who lie on their medical
forms.

> This is one of the reasone why there's a compulsory medical for anyone
> contemkplating a diving course in OZ - and why I question the anomaly
> of self-assesment for those doing intro dives here! :-)

That certainly seems odd!

Bjorn