Pro Team
Thien X. Do
Founder | PADI Course Director | EFR & Specialty Instructor Trainer
Thien’s first view of the underwater world was through a swimming goggle on a pristine reef off the Refugee Camp at Pulau Bidong, Malaysia in 1980. At 10 years old, awaiting UNICEF to decide his future, little did he know that first glimpse under the sea will be a part of his life’s passion.
Born in the former country of South Viet Nam, Thien escaped with his family among the "Boat People" to Malaysia in 1980. He immigrated to the US in 1981 and grew up in California where he lived until 2001. A graduate of University of California at Santa Barbara, Thien’s previous professional life has been as a Business Manager for Gap Inc. and Business Development Manager for E-greetings Network Inc.
Graduated from PADI Head Quarter in California, Thien was no stranger to the Instructor Development Course. By the summer of his 2004 PADI CDTC, he had taught in 25 IDC programs (training over 300 candidates) before becoming a PADI Course Director. Prior to making Scuba Diving his daily lifestyle, you could find him mountain biking, running marathons, stumbling through triathlons, and had fallen off his skis quite often while searching for that ultimate “adrenaline rush.” Now, life for him is doing that divin' thingy... and appreciating the beautiful sunset everyday from the sand of Kata Beach!
Between the IDCs, Thien loves to go diving with his students, customers and friends to many local, regional and liveaboard dive sites. Unlike many other Course Directors, he also enjoys teaching all levels of PADI courses from beginner level to advanced level. To keep himself discipline at logging his dives, Thien logs his dives and trip comments on the web, at http://thiendivelog.blogspot.com and his Facebook Timeline. When he's not in the water, Thien spends time trying to catch up with his other businesses (Beuchat Equipment Distribution, Rumblefish Adventure Inn), traveling or chilling with his friends.
Latest Events and Update
Led Rumblefish Adventure to PADI 5 Star IDC in August 2010
Chris Dyer
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer
Chris joined the GoPro Thailand team in April 2011, right after his success in completing Rumblefish Adventure GoPro training. Chris is RfA full-time instructor and assisted Thien in training Divemasters, running the IDC prep program and prepping IDC candidates for the IE. Nick named 'Jasmine,' Chris also run the Inn when he's not diving.
- Specialty Instructor
- EFR Instructor
- Spends time teaching & dive leading in Phuket and also in the Similans
- Language: American English
Daw Nichikarn Tueanthaisong
PADI Divemaster | RfA Inn Supervisor
Daa joined the Rumblefish Adventure team in September of 2009 as a facility maintenance staff. She achieved her PADI Divemaster rank in July 2011. Daw's success is more than just luck, she learned to dive and gain her PADI Pro status through sheer determination in learning English and completed her training with helps from the GoPro Thailand team. Today, she assisted Thien in ensuring that the facility is ready for courses, play student's role in DM courses and IDC, leading divers on day trips, along with managing the Inn during the week.
- Equipment Specialist: BCD Valves Repair & Beuchat Equipment maintenance
- Specialize in finding macro creatures: Nudis, seahorses, pipefish etc.
- RfA Divers' Inn super staff
- Language: Thais & English
Danny Pilling
PADI Master Scuba Diver Trainer
Danny joined the GoPro Thailand team in September of 2008. He assisted Thien in training Divemasters and specialty courses, along with teaching part-time for Rumblefish Adventure on weekends. Graduated in April 2008, Danny's aspire to become a better instructor in both recreational and professional rank. Look to see more of Danny in 2009 as part of the GoPro Team.
- Specialty Instructor
- EFR Instructor
- Spends time teaching & guiding in Phuket and also in the Similans
- Founder of Craven Nursery Pre School in Phuket
- Language: English
Ian Holt
PADI IDC Staff Instructor
Ian became a PADI instructor in 2004. He has been teaching diving part-time to fuel his passion for diving trips since. Ian took the plunge and completed his IDC Staff Instructor Course with Thien in 2006. He joined Gillmanoids KL as one of the founders in 2007. You may find him teaching & staffing our GoPro programs in 2010 , as his work schedule allowed.
- Specialty Instructor (you name it and he has it ... almost)
- EFR Instructor Trainer
- Partner of Gillmanoids, Kuala Lumpur
- Language: English
Remar Holt
PADI IDC Staff Instructor
Remar became a PADI instructor at the same time as Ian, then became an IDC Staff Instructor in January 2009. Since then (or even before!?) she is know as "card collector", which made her 10+ PADI specialties intructor. Also, as a founding member of Gillmanoids, she takes care of not only the divers but details a proper dive center needs to deal with... accounting, reservations etc.
- Specialty Instructor
- EFR Instructor
- Partner of Gillmanoids, Kuala Lumpur
- Language: English & Tagalog (but everybody talks to her in Chinese, Thai and even Malay!)
