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First of all and one more time I can see Russian bashing ...... This guy is UZBEKISTAN citizen , so why they put Russian ???????????????/ ridiculous !! How come he could take a boat out of the marina ? there are guards at the entrance asking question ( I know I have a boat there) , then you need a key to start , you need knowledge in sailing .... sounds very strange to me !

The boat owner may have an Uzbek passport but he is Russian-Uzbek as his Russian name "Mr. Olec Okorodof" clearly suggests. So this is a case of a Russian person stealing from another Russian .

Pegas of course is a Russian travel company. Russian tourism -related problems happen more and more often.

Let me get this straight, your saying its the Russians fault that the tuk tuk/ taxi mafia are ripping tourist off?

Perhaps not yet , but if Russians keep taking business away from local tuk tuk/taxi groups and ignore their interests then yes there will be more rip off and prices will rise for us.

Just what I thought: "Mr Ma-ann said Alex Tour, targetted yesterday by the protesters, was operating legally with a business licence, but the Russian staff did not have work permits." () I think most Russians working in tour business as drivers and street tour desk staff don't have work permits but just pay the right people to look away. Responding to robblok's and inzman's comments above - Russians of course will not brake the tuk tuk mafia, and all the non-Russian rest of us will pay more in tuk tuk fares thanks to Russians not using them.

I'm sure that even without Russian tour guides and those annoying street Russian tour desks every 20 m Russians will continue coming here in droves simply because Thailand still offers the best value in budget tropical holidays for them. And even if fewer Russians will come to Thailand other tourists will rejoice and starting coming in bigger numbers.

I'm surprised that most of the posters take the side of the Russian tour agents in this dispute. In my opinion most of these tour agencies staffed by Russians are in

substance owned and operated by Russians notwithstanding their formal Thai ownership. Russians just pay Thai owner nominees retaining fees to avoid attracting

criticism from locals. International organizations rank Russia as one of the most corrupt countries in the world and Russians are skilled most than most at corrupting

people wherever they have business interests. This is one of the reasons why we see so many Russians working in tour business in Thailand, unlike nationals of other

countries that bring many tourists numbers to Thailand, like China, Japan, or India. These Russians possibly find a way to do that without workpermits, by bribing local

officials. In addition to that Russians are known for their aggressive business methods and the locals seem at last are fighting back. Of course local taxi mafia does

everything to maintain its monopoly and to protect extortionist prices, but looks like Russians are still finding ways to beat locals in this tourist transportation business.

These ubiquitous Russian tour desks are located what seems like every fifty meters wherever one goes in touristy areas. They are real eyesores in Phuket and Pattaya.

And I find it strange and an affront when such businesses demonstratively cater exclusively only to one nationality in popular tourist locations, occupying public space

in discrimination to other nationalities. Most of these businesses have only signage in cyrillics without even a word in Thai or English. There are other Russian

businesses like restaurants and diving shops where you won't get any service if you are not a Russian. Russians probably think they now own Pattaya and Phuket. Thai

authorities should regulate these issues to avoid creating an impression that they prefer one nationality over another. I don't see any Chinese, Indian, Japanese or

German tour desks catering only to their compartriots.

Other countries have enough tact not to push their exclusive national interests in such arrogant and demostrative manner.

And for those who cheer these Russian tour agents for taking on local taxi mafia, I think there is no benefit in this fight for Western tourists.

In fact if these taxi drivers miss business on Russians they will have to rip Westerners even more to compensate such loss of income.