Mikko Paasi

Paasi has owned Koh Tao Divers since 2002 and founded its technical branch, and is a rebreather instructor trainer who teaches in both backmount and sidemount. The rebreather training is what students write about, and they are precise about it. Several describe MOD 1 on the Sidewinder — "Mikko prepared us well for all possible scenarios. His teaching methods were always memorable and effective" — and the word that recurs is preparation for things going wrong rather than skills demonstrated in calm water. Others return to the shop repeatedly across a year, and courses are often taught with Naomi Allen or Kevin Black assisting, which students mention as a benefit rather than a dilution. In the forums he comes up when people ask about technical training in Asia, with the caveat from one poster that he may teach less open circuit these days than he once did. He is also, separately from the teaching, one of the better-known figures in cave rescue: a member of the Surat Thani Rescue team, one of the divers in the 2018 Tham Luang extraction, decorated with a Knight Grand Cross by the King of Thailand and a Life-Saving Medal by the President of Finland, and in May 2026 the leader of the international dive response to a flooded mine in Xaisomboun province, Laos. He leads Bottomline Projects, whose Satun Cave Exploration Project confirmed Toh Wang Cave as Thailand's longest known freshwater cave in 2023.