Part 1 - a New Year Meetup with the GUE Thai Community

This January, I took 12 days off work to travel back to my home country, Thailand — my first time returning in two and a half years. The journey was quite the marathon: I flew from Shreveport, Louisiana (SHV) to Houston (IAH), then to Chicago (ORD), and finally boarded a wonderful EVA Air flight to Taipei (TPE), before reaching my final destination — Bangkok, Thailand (BKK). The whole trip took 4 flight segments and nearly 30 hours!

Being back in Thailand was incredibly rewarding. I was finally able to spend time with my family and friends, and reconnect with familiar places and faces. One of the highlights of the trip was meeting up with the GUE Thai community, a group that has been genuinely supportive of my diving journey.

We gathered on a laid-back Sunday at a restaurant called Co-limited (a fun play on words that translates to “Cow-limited” in Thai), which specializes in Thai beef dishes. It was an afternoon of good food, new introductions, and meaningful conversations. I had the honor of meeting Instructor Sanya Lohitnavy, the one and only Thai GUE instructor; Rose, the GUE Thai coordinator; and many passionate GUE divers — all incredibly accomplished not just in the water, but in their personal and professional lives as well.

Part 2 - Diving with my twin sister in the middle of Bangkok!

After the meetup, I reunited with my twin sister at Sea Life Bangkok, an aquarium located in the heart of Bangkok beneath Siam Paragon mall. We were there for a special experience — a dive in their main tank! I finally got to swim up close with one of my all-time favorite marine animals: the guitarfish. They had a pretty big one too!

We did a 40-minute dive surrounded by sand tiger sharks, leopard sharks, rays, and even a large sea turtle. It was a magical experience — especially meaningful because I had dreamed of this moment since I was a little kid. I remember visiting this same aquarium years ago, watching scuba divers in awe, and wondering how it was even possible to breathe underwater. It took decades, but I finally checked this dream off my bucket list!