Official Wetpixel ADEX Bangkok Meet Up

Just arrived home after an afternoon at ADEX.

It was great to catch up with some diving friends.

The number of dive destination booths seems to be down a bit from ADEX last year. And the "Thai" side of the Thai dive industry has mainly stayed away, no doubt planning to be at TDEX next month.

Plenty of dive gear stands and the Malaysian dive resorts are well represented.

BITEC is nice, modern with lots of space and car parking but I think it is a poor choice for this kind of exhibition. Traffic down and back was not too bad but was starting to build up at 5pm when I left.

Regards

Peter

The show has been a bit slow. Will have pics etc up soon. I probably won't go in tomorrow.

Will be at the bar tonight at 8.30.

Yes, I think that ADEX is a bit of a fizzer this year.

The reasons are probably:

1. Poor choice of venue. Bitec is too far away from the city and the traffic is bad in that area. Either of the other 2 exhibition centers in Bangkok would have been better. The Queen Sirikit exhibition center is the best.

2. Failure to attract the "Thai" side of the Thailand dive industry, maybe because of the proximity to TDEX. Maybe because ADEX is seen as being Singaporean (see 3)

3. The recent political friction between Thailand and Singapore might have had some impact on the number of local exhibitors and local visitors.

Regards

Peter

Wetpixel/DivePhotoGuide gathering came and went in BKK tonight. There'll be a report on the behavior of several members and certain interlopers. About 16 people gathered at the Admaker bar and 5 were left to close it.

Full report coming soon.

photos photos photos!

There'll be a report on the behavior of several members and certain interlopers. About 16 people gathered at the Admaker bar and 5 were left to close it.

For those about to drink (or did) we salute you.

Mental note, never attend another diveshow with Drew with a credit card! I came out significantly poorer than I went in because Drew kept showing me all the new nifty stuffs. I think he must be getting nice commissions from Dive Supply among others

did he buy you drinks in return?

Unfortunately I could not join the soiree in the evening Otherwise I could at least get some money back from all the free rounds

Well I stopped by ADEX on Sat. Wasn't expecting much but really surprised at how small it was. Spent most of my time chatting with David Cheung (ScubaCam) and Kenji Ohmura (Seatool) at the ScubaCam booth drooling over the new Seatool Canon 400D and Sony HC7 housings . Unfortunately it sounded like a number of exhibitors had problem with Thai customs holding up some of the gear including a Gates HC7 housing Scubacam was planning on bringing up from Singapore... Fortunately ProDive Thailand was displaying a Gates HC7 housing.

Apologizes for not making the get together at Admaker.

Great evening guys - many thanks Drew for hosting, and Jason Heller for the second round. Great location too, Mark Knopfler would have been proud.

Looking forward to the photos, I also have a few, although as the evening progressed the amount of camera shake seems to have increased .....

oi! where's the pics?!?!

Well as Drew is taking his time with the official WetPixel shots, here are a few appetizers, though it seems I was too busy gabbing to take many at the bar.

1) Misool booth - founder Andy Miners on left, with Free Flow Divers Michael and Angela Sausman and my wife Heather (far right)

2) Admaker Bar and WetPixel table

3) Matt Oldfield of Scubazoo being told what a camera does by Drew

4) Matt, Drew and Jason Isley, MD of Scubazoo

Nah, I think the third picture was Drew's swearing at Canon E-TTL since he was pointing at the flash. I bet he wish he has Nikon i-TTL

I think the conversation was about the merits of attaching a plastic beer glass to your strobe;-)

Matt

FYI the ADEX report is up on the front page here

The party pictures are here

Sorry for the delay but I've been flying around.