The Russians keep coming....

[CoffeeBreak]

"The number of one-year retirement visas has surged by more than 30 percent, according to a source at the Chonburi Immigration Bureau. Although there are more British applicants than any other nationality, there is a noticeable growth in the number of Russian applicants. If the trend continues, more than 45,000 such visas will have been issued by the end of the 2013."


http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews ... ment-visas (http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/334047/upsurge-in-retirement-visas)

[thrillbill]

Westerners forget that it is only a 4...5 hour flight for them to arrive in Thailand and one of the easiest countries to get a visa so that is why there will be more and more Russians in LOS. Hopefully, as they visit other countries around the world they will pick up on better "people skills".

[painai2]

I would think tropical Thailand looks pretty appealing to someone from Siberia where you might see a high of -35F on a good day.

[kakadai]

Westerners forget that it is only a 4...5 hour flight for them to arrive in Thailand and one of the easiest countries to get a visa so that is why there will be more and more Russians in LOS. Hopefully, as they visit other countries around the world they will pick up on better "people skills".

Which airline is it that flies that fast from Moscow to Bangkok? The ones that I fly will typically have reached Kabul after five hours from Bangkok.

[kjun12]

one of the easiest countries to get a visa .
I thought that Russians were not even required to obtain a visa. Aren't they excused from the visa process through some reciprocal agreement with Russia?

Do Thais go to Russia or are they smart enough to avoid it?

[lukylok]

Which airline is it that flies that fast from Moscow to Bangkok? The ones that I fly will typically have reached Kabul after five hours from Bangkok.

Russia is much bigger than just Moscow ! Have a look at the map.

[Shuee]

yes the russians are becoming extremely noticeable in pty, but whats annoying me the most is the prices in the shops, malls have gone in & now rooms/hotels some have, due to russians paying higher prices! do they get a very good exchange rate to the baht or just the rich russians are coming?

[Neal]

Have you taken notice to the manicurists on the beach? A pedicure, manicure and a few minute back massage for the Russians is 1,000 baht and if they start to balk the manicurist starts to pretend to get angry and the Russian quickly pays it. I think in many cases they just don't know what the costs of some things are and it makes it higher for us.

[rifraf]

Russians who travel to Thailand on a Tourist Visa get six months.

The Russian Ruble is equivalent to the Thai Bath in value. For many of these families and single travelers, Thailand may well be the first holiday or travel experience away from home. Most of these people grew up in the cold, brutal and frighteningly homophobic USSR. It takes a long time to change a culture that was as dominant in every way in the lives of Russians and the peoples of the 'near abroad'.

Most Russians and Russian speakers from neighbouring countries who come to Thailand as tourists seem to be middle income earners. Some of the ones who opt to retire or work here tend to sell assets back home and start anew in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries. Many Russians are now unemployed and are not doing well economically under Putin, so a number of them leave home to seek greener pastures here and elsewhere. They work in Thailand as teachers, insurance salespeople, translators, real estate agents, etc. The more affluent and business savvy ones have opened a variety of businesses in different parts of Thailand.

As I have shared on another thread, my three best friends in Pattaya are Russians, who are entrepreneurial, sophisticated, caring and friendly guys. Two of them are partners in a tour guide business and the other owns a graphic arts company. They are productive, law abiding and tax paying guys, who have great respect for others and especially for the Thai people. We all came to Pattaya right around the same time about two years ago and met each other through our different places of work that ended up all being connected then and now. They are therefore both my friends and business colleagues.

Many of the observations about the attitudes and behaviours of Russian expats and tourists in Pattaya are spot on, but it is also true that these are not exclusive to them only. Also true is that there are many fine and upstanding Russians and Russian speakers who reside in this community that have made and continue to make a positive contribution in their own quiet way. It would be unfair to use one broad brushstroke to paint all of them in a negative light.

[kjun12]

do they get a very good exchange rate to the baht or just the rich russians are coming?
Actually, reports that I have read say that the class of Russians coming to Pattaya are not the wealthy and upper crust. It is middle-class people who come to Thailand because it is considered very cheap. They sure act low-class.

[painai2]

Which airline is it that flies that fast from Moscow to Bangkok? The ones that I fly will typically have reached Kabul after five hours from Bangkok.

Utair Aviation has charter flights from NOV (Novosibirsk, Siberia) to UTP (Utapao in Rayong). I don't know how long the flight is, but I'm sure it's closer than Moscow.

[kakadai]

Which airline is it that flies that fast from Moscow to Bangkok? The ones that I fly will typically have reached Kabul after five hours from Bangkok.

Russia is much bigger than just Moscow ! Have a look at the map.

A look at the map tells me that no Russian town or city is within five hours from Thailand. :happy7:

[svyturys]

I keep hearing complains from westerners about the behaviour of Russians though I couldnt say they behave worse than other big nations on holiday. Brits are particularily notorious. Think of Magaluf for example.
All big nations are arrogant and fairly badly behaved because they pumped since childhood with bulshit how great their nations are and the less educated they are the more they believe it. This bad behaviour is not common to other eastern european nations.
Communism is likely to be a cause of certain attitude. And it is quiet obvious in Asia as well when comparing thais with chinese or vietnamese. Why it is so you would ask? I tend to believe that politeness and manners generally comes from commercial relations. It helps a lot achieving commercial goals. With communism denying capitalistic commercial relations, the need for manners simply did not exist. And despite the fact that both russians and chinese live in capitalistic societies (China is capitalist economy - make no mistake !!!) these days, old habbits are hard to change. Nor it is particularily encouraged by their governements.
However Russians got a perfect excuse - they are honest. They are very forward and don't play games like westerners. If they dont like you - they will let you know straight away. While westerners tend to smile even in awkward situations though in their minds they are less than polite

[kjun12]

You forgot to mention that the Russians who hit Pattaya are sloppy drunks, rude and assholes.

[PattayaBob]

Kjun you seem to be very prejudiced against Russians. I feel your sweeping generalizations are rude and not true. I have found many Russians to be nice, friendly and family oriented. Maybe the places you hang out attracts undesirables. I remember on a posing once a member complaining about drunken Russians in a bar and an other posted responded he was present and they were speaking French. Not all light hair and fair skinned people are Russian. :wav:

[lonelywombat]

I cannot remember the previous owner of CornerBar who posts from time to time on Gaybutton.

He did mention three gay boys that called into his bar that he got excited about. I cannot remember the results but they did get a few mentions.

I think it comes back to what they understand and few can speak Russian.

Wish there were a few more russians around.

The leads I got to gayromeo did not match up. Still interested.

[kjun12]

Kjun you seem to be very prejudiced against Russians. I feel your sweeping generalizations are rude and not true.
Bob, perhaps you and your Russian friends find my remarks to be rude. I don't deny that they are not complementary and you should not attack what I believe to be true from what I have seen. I have never been to Russia and my contact with them has only been in Thailand and in Europe.


I have found many Russians to be nice, friendly and family oriented. Maybe the places you hang out attracts undesirables.

I suppose that it is unfortunate that I have never met any of the type of Russians to whom you refer as being nice family people. Those I have met were drunken louts who amble the streets being loud and commandeering the side walks. When they are in a group they are loud and boisterous and have no regard for how their loudness affects those around them. You snide comment about where I hang out is not very nice and revels that you, also, are not all milk and honey. The only bar I have ever been to in Pattaya is Neal's former bar. My contact with your friends has been on the streets of Pattaya, Bangkok and many other Thai places. This, in no way, denies that there are Russians who are like those you refer to. I have not met any like that but I am sure there are good, nice, family people who are Russians. Falling into the pit of generalization I will repeat that based on those I have had contact with I, generally,do not like Russians!

[loke]

Millions of Russians are invading LOS , of course you will find some arrogant rude people amongst them .

Just ignore it , and enjoy some of the good looking ones....

[neoncrusade]

"The number of one-year retirement visas has surged by more than 30 percent. If the trend continues, more than 45,000 such visas will have been issued by the end of the 2013."

One of those 45,000 will be me....hooray!!


You forgot to mention that the Russians who hit Pattaya are sloppy drunks, rude and assholes.

I've seen plenty of Brits, Aussies, Thais etc that fit that description too. I've never seen in Pattaya the kind of crap that goes on in my middle England town on a weekend; one of the reasons I can't wait to leave.

[pong]

This morning in BKK-ppst-short news:
Russian plane grounded in Uzbekistan, as flight broke out between some drunken Russians- plane on the way to Thailand. Instigator tied/taped to seat and mouth also taped.
Govt. is now planning to curb on taxfree sales of alco etc.
BTW- this week BKK-town is absolutely FULL-with too many mainland Chinese-too dumb to even understand the most basic of thai things. Plus that they cannot even speak/understand the Chinese variety most of the normal bisnispeople here use.

[ikarus]

I think the first of three cited paragraphs is totally misleading. But I would tend to agree with the last two. The problem is that Russians compose about half of the total amount of all visitors and while it is true that there are plenty of scum coming to Pattaya from other countries, the sheer number of Russian scum in Pattaya is overwhelming. I definitely had no problems with a few Russians who stayed in Dusit D2 during New Year Eve but these were really educated middle -class visitors which is a tiny minority. The vast majority of Russians coming to Pattaya is just low-class shit.
I do understand Russian and just overhearing what some of them talking about will tell you more than just observing them from the distance. Most of them are clearly homophobic. Now, why Russians visiting Thailand so much prefer Pattaya to other local destinations, I cannot say.