2 minutes ago, Conquerbrqvilok said:

I understand that you sympathize with Ukrainians and you are out of the EU take them to live in Scotland they may like it people in Germany, Italy and France honestly honestly? They don't like Ukrainians and they prefer Russians your problem is the same as some leaders in the western world they won't accept Putin as a strong leader because for decades are used to deal with sheep leaders like the gulf countries and Africa  this is the truth Russia is not Iraq or libya no one can bombard them and this making you and others furious ????

EU and UK stand by their commitments to Ukrainian refuges fleeing persecution from the paranoid dictator Putin

 

The European Union prepares for millions of refugees from Ukraine

The European Union has promised that all war refugees from Ukraine will be accepted.

 

Boris Johnson has said the UK could take in 200,000 or more Ukrainian refugees as the government extends its help to more people fleeing the war.

6 hours ago, wombat said:

I'm disgusted with the negativity shown towards Russians by members on this thread.

Who do you think is killing Ukranian women and children. It's not Putin it's Russian citizens. The old "I was only acting on orders" excuse just doesn't cut it.

4 hours ago, OmegaRacer said:

Yes, he's for real and quite right. There have been agreements in place to keep countries as buffer zones between Russia and the West (Churchill to Stalin at Yalta and Potsdam in 1944-45 first and NATO to Yeltsin in the 1990s in return for accepting the reunification of Germany). However, these concessions have been pretty much ignored, leading to Putin to lash out.
Not that I condone any of his actions, but it would be wise to consider all points of views before pointing fingers. The world ain't all neatly black and white, despite what some people think.

And making the Russian tourists here scapegoats for their president's action is exactly the shortsighted and irrational-emotional reaction that got us in this mess in the first place.

Just a fast thought,so if putin takes over Ukraine,where is the buffer zone now?

 

A Russian with no money for his daily bottle of vodka is a dangerous Russian! 

No money, no help = crime! 

11 hours ago, Anna Rak said:

With all the travel restrictions and hoop jumping to get through, it's unlikely there are many Russians or Ukrainians in or about to travel to Thailand anyway, However a more interesting question might be, How much Russian currency is Thailand holding in foreign reserves now that the Russian currency is all but useless?? which brings back a thought of years ago, when it was not known as Rubels but "RUBBLES" 

 

Just a Question to ponder for the illustrious P.M. and his Hub of finance. 

What made you think that Thailand holds RR in reserve?????

26 minutes ago, billd766 said:

A reasonable idea, but, how would they get there bearing in mind that they have little cash money. I can't think of many airlines flying in and out or Russia and I don' think that many Russian aircraft have the range to fly from Russia to Bangkok and back without refueling. On landing in any foreign country the crew have to be rotated, landing and parking fees to be paid plus of course refueling the aircraft. Then the crew will need a hotel and food unless there are 2 crews so that 1 crew can fly the outbound leg to BKK and the 2nd crew can fly it back to Russia.

 

That still leaves the aircraft fees which will have to be paid for in real hard currency. In the Gods we trust, all others pay cash (and not Rubles).

Pre pandemic, virtually daily direct flights from all of the major Russian cities to Phuket including those furthest away such as Moscow and Saint Petersburg.   Looking at todays arrivals and departures (Phuket), I can only see Irkutsk and Vladivostok.

7 hours ago, Zack61 said:

Not sure all Russian’s support this madman. Putin demands their support with threats of imprisonment or worse. Perhaps they come to Thailand seeking a reprieve from this nutter. 

Still, maybe half of of the Russian population or even more support Putin - also because of round a clock propoganda on main TV channels. Just yesterday the Russian web-sites and airing of the 2 last main independent media (radio station Echo Moskvy/Echo of Moscow and TV station Dozhd/Rain) were blocked by the government (they are still working on their You tube channes at the moment). Yes, if you go out in the street to oppose the war you can be jailed for years.
All flights to Europe and Caribes are cancelled. Airbus and Boeing have cancelled cooperation / maintenance /spare parts support for the aircrafts in the Russian airlines - so within several months there will maybe no aircrafts for passanger fights abroad by Russian airlines. And this is only a part of the coming Russian economy desruption.

6 minutes ago, Dont confuse me said:

A Russian with no money for his daily bottle of vodka is a dangerous Russian! 

No money, no help = crime! 

Why all this hate to Russians ?have you ever been there? people are civilized, cities are clean and the life quality is better than eastern  Europe, Russians are people of dignity unlike Ukrainians they are good on asking charity  

5 minutes ago, Conquerbrqvilok said:

Why all this hate to Russians ?have you ever been there? people are civilized, cities are clean and the life quality is better than eastern  Europe, Russians are people of dignity unlike Ukrainians they are good on asking charity  

Civilized people !! Killing innocent women and children. All scum.

4 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Civilized people !! Killing innocent women and children. All scum.

in war no one is innocent , the innocent is the victorious what Russia did compared to Germany , Japan ,France, Spain and the USA?

17 minutes ago, jvs said:

Just a fast thought,so if putin takes over Ukraine,where is the buffer zone now?

 

One thing leads to another. If that happens, who should be and who will be blamed? 

All I'm saying is that it would be extremely simplistic to declare one to be "good" and the other "evil". That's just a shortcut of the mind to process complicated issues in a neat and easily understandable little box.
Plus, what we hear in the news, from one side or the other...how much do you trust those sources? What vested interests that we know nothing about underlie and fuel the narratives we are ultimately exposed to?

Whichever way you look at it, it's a big mess, that's for sure. The consequences are wide-reaching, complex and hard to predict. 

It's all fun and games in Thailand until the money runs out and your Issan wife leaves you. 

 

These Russians will learn the hard way and frankly I've no sympathy. They had years to condemn Putin and his cronies.

 

The Ukrainians on the other hand are more than welcome. We should setup a fund to help them.

 

Sincerely 

 

MORRIS

Renowned Patek Phillips Collection, Ex DJ

9 hours ago, garyk said:

Rumor is they are going to invade Jomtien! 

Well THEY Practically OWN The Place.....

6 hours ago, dlclark97 said:

I do not think that all Russian citizens should be condemned for their government leaders actions.  Their leaders are not exactly chosen by a free and open democratic election system.  A few years ago (4 or 5) my wife and I happened to be on a SCUBA diving trip that included five Russian divers.  It was on a liveaboard trip where we were together for six days.  What I can say is that they were very pleasant people to be around and we had some very interesting and enlightening conversations in English in the evenings after the days diving was done.  Granted, this group may not have been from the same economic class of Russians that visit locations such as Pattaya and Phuket for a few days of activities but we thoroughly enjoyed their company and would welcome another trip with them.

Indeed. I abhor the rude crass behaviour of SOME of the Russians in Pattaya, especially on Baht buses etc, but here in UK I know and have worked with some very friendly and highly intelligent Russian people. The ones i met here, were great fun to be with too.

I could make similar comments (good and bad) about my fellow Brits....and Americans...and...and.....

12 hours ago, Albert Zweistein said:

And the low exchange rate of the Russian ruble, also very helpfull.

Yes, and 

 

10 hours ago, internationalism said:

Their accounts were blocked, whether cc or by bank transfers. 
Also they cant use anymore insurance bought at their countries. 
They were coming before war in large quantities, also by travel agencies charter flights. Especially recent months, when conflict escalated. 
still, they might be coming from the third countries in europe, where they escaped over the land borders. 
They dont need visa to thailand. Possibly they might claim an asylum, if run out of visa extension problems. 
there is a large trade between thailand and russia, ukraine - that includes also armaments to thailand. But it's mostly export from thailand. Agricultural products, especially winter time. 
with all different sanctions and blocks thailand will have to find new ways of trading

I don't suppose Thailand banned any Russian banks! Not in their financial interest -- and b - - - -r any moral interest!

 

I see even the greedy Swiss financial institutions are 'considering' freezing Russian bank accounts!

 

Many on this site are criticising the Russian people for the Ukranian invasion. I don't suppose many educated Russians support Putin's actions. Repressive states: Russia, China, Belarus, Thailand, Burma feed their public political propaganda and give them no choice in their countries actions.

2 hours ago, Conquerbrqvilok said:

Russia is an important country for the world economy and military balance Ukraine just a burden and all this support to Ukraine is wrong western countries should not support UA or being neutral or no support 

And Putin own a full right to secure his borders from a country that have no personality, and controlled by others Things got worse in France, Italy and Germany after Romania , Hungary, and Bulgaria joined the EU as they are poor more than Africa and they needed a huge support from the taxes of European hard workers now an other help to Ukraine? no need to work for others  the wave of Ukrainian will be a big problem for Europe thieves , organized crimes, human trafficking , Minor sexual trade , weapon trade , Robbery and much more 

Must be the midnight shift at the troll farm.

6 hours ago, bunnydrops said:

I am against all wars. But I do think people should see both sides of the picture.

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/neo-nazis-far-right-ukraine/

The neo-nazi slur is used by the Russians because they remember what happened in World War II.

Kyiv surrendered without firing a shot, most of Ukraine greeted the advancing Germans as liberators.

That was because the Ukrainian memory went even further back, to the Holomodor, which was effectively genocide by mass starvation, ordered by Stalin.

It didn't take long for the Ukrainians to realize they had swapped the left jackboot for a right jackboot, but it's still a handy brush for the Russians to tar Ukrainians with.

History might have been very different if the Germans had recognized the value of treating a country who welcomes you well.

 

1 hour ago, billd766 said:

A reasonable idea, but, how would they get there bearing in mind that they have little cash money. I can't think of many airlines flying in and out or Russia and I don' think that many Russian aircraft have the range to fly from Russia to Bangkok and back without refueling.

The Russians just started a new service this week. I presume all these Russian tourists had a round trip ticket. Isn't that part of the Thai Pass, unless Thailand is giving Russians a special deal? So return home is paid for.

1 hour ago, Conquerbrqvilok said:

Why all this hate to Russians ?have you ever been there? people are civilized, cities are clean and the life quality is better than eastern  Europe, Russians are people of dignity unlike Ukrainians they are good on asking charity  

Think the hatred started with firing of assorted ordinance when the lying scum clearly stated there would be none ???? 

12 hours ago, Anna Rak said:

With all the travel restrictions and hoop jumping to get through, it's unlikely there are many Russians or Ukrainians in or about to travel to Thailand anyway, However a more interesting question might be, How much Russian currency is Thailand holding in foreign reserves now that the Russian currency is all but useless?? which brings back a thought of years ago, when it was not known as Rubels but "RUBBLES" 

 

Just a Question to ponder for the illustrious P.M. and his Hub of finance. 

My guess would be little to none of Thailand's foreign currency reserves are in Russian rubles...most likely mostly in the big four ($ € £ ¥ and some yuan).

Russians in Pattaya without money will be okay, can always contact the local Russian mafia for a loan.

6 hours ago, StraightTalk said:

Yes, but NATO is!

I think it's pretty clear that Russia was/is a military threat to Ukraine and Ukraine's desire to get into NATO is well justified. In fact joining NATO was the only rational way for Ukraine to protect itself from Russia in the absence of having nuclear weapons. This is manifestly obvious given that Russia has already invaded (twice) and has now progressed to indiscriminate missile strikes and shelling because the war isn't going well for them. Any claim that Russia's invasion is justified to protect itself from NATO is just dumb given that Estonia and Latvia have been part of NATO for years and both are closer to Moscow than Ukraine. 

 

In any event, NATO is simply an excuse to justify Putin's invasion. The real primary objective has always been a land corridor from Russia to Crimea and restoration of access to fresh water for Crimea. Just look at the news. The only part of this war that is going remotely close to plan is in the south. All of the BS in the north is to provide a distraction for the Ukrainian military and to force Kyiv to sign up for the annexation of additional Ukrainian territory as the price of Russian withdrawal.

 

Putin has gravely miscalculated western reaction, Ukrainian resistance and also has failed to fully convince his own military or government apparatus. Putin's is more dangerous than ever right now, because he is fighting for his very life and fears those around him far more than he fears the US or NATO. The obvious way out of this predicament for Russia is to get rid of Putin and let him take all the blame.

 

If Putin does not show success in Ukraine soon, a coup in Russia becomes a real possibility. The war in Ukraine was lost before it even began, and everyone in the Russian government and military now knows this. The best result Putin can hope for is decades of Ukrainian insurgency and being cut off from most of the world's economy. Russia could have a better outcome without Putin in power, but it will take a long time for the west to trust Russia again.

 

Unfortunately, I think it will be years of insurgency and the destruction of the Russian economy. The only winners in all this will be the USA with a Europe even more dependent on the US and China with a Russia even more dependent on China. Putin was played, or Putin lost his mojo, take your pick. The invasion of Ukraine was a mistake of epic proportions. It will be studied by military academies and politicians for centuries as an example of what not to do.

 

 

1 hour ago, Lacessit said:

The neo-nazi slur is used by the Russians because they remember what happened in World War II.

Kyiv surrendered without firing a shot, most of Ukraine greeted the advancing Germans as liberators.

That was because the Ukrainian memory went even further back, to the Holomodor, which was effectively genocide by mass starvation, ordered by Stalin.

It didn't take long for the Ukrainians to realize they had swapped the left jackboot for a right jackboot, but it's still a handy brush for the Russians to tar Ukrainians with.

History might have been very different if the Germans had recognized the value of treating a country who welcomes you well.

 

Unfortunately what you said is true and the bunch of hypocrites here they may attack you 

10 hours ago, Zack61 said:

Not sure all Russian’s support this madman. Putin demands their support with threats of imprisonment or worse. Perhaps they come to Thailand seeking a reprieve from this nutter. 

"Putin demands their support with threats of imprisonment........."

 

Substitute "Prayut" for "Putin" and there's not much difference - the main one being that here they are "farangs", and will make no difference at all to the political situation here.  

7 hours ago, Lacessit said:

Putin has been a hero to the majority of Russians for many years, as a fairly tribal culture Russians have always respected strong leaders. So yes, they are partly responsible for the current mess. Granted, they are not responsible for Putin losing the plot.

I could partially agree with you if I believed that the will of the Russian people had anything at all to do with placing Putin in power.

To your point however I do and have placed blame on the American people for what happened in 2016. I fault those that voted for the deeply flawed man as well as those that didn't bother to vote against him.

7 hours ago, mtls2005 said:

Is it though?

 

Not addressing bkk6060's exact statement. I'd treat all tourists/legal aliens here the same.

 

But don't sanctions impact individual Russians in Russia and all over the globe? Isn't that the point? Is that really "...short-sighted, misguided, and frankly ignorant."

 

 

Your argument is too nuanced for me.

I treat people as I find them, regardless of their home country. That seems like a safe, fair, and simple approach.

4 hours ago, puck2 said:

If that would be right, what you are pretending, then please tell and explain to me/us, why Germany had to pay a lot for all the crimes Hitler had done before and during WW II. 

 

The same should happen to Russia. I'm sure, a lot of Russians dislike their dictator Purtin, the same what happened in Germany with Hitler. But both dictators, Hitler and Putin, both have been the official represantives of their country.

 

Therefore it's correct to pay for "the damage" they have caused. This result is very sad for the normal Russian people with a good heart and a healthy brain. It's an unwanted result of belonging to this country, but you have to tolerate the consequences of an ugly and bad leadership.

 

I wasn't alive at the end of WWII and had no part of the retribution.

In any event that was then and this is now. I reserve the right to change my behavior if I believe that I or my forefathers did the wrong thing in the past. We are not bound to the past.

 

We all have the right to treat individuals as we choose without implementing policies advocated by our governments.  I'll disregard your "official representative" comment as it's irrelevant and a deflection from my statements.

 

Free your mind.

3 hours ago, racket said:

Bitcoin fixes this.

The Russian Oligarchs are buying it up. 

and things are not getting any better for them

 

Putin signs decree to prohibit leaving Russia with more than $10,000 in foreign currency 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/putin-signs-decree-to-prohibit-leaving-russia-with-more-than-10-000-in-foreign-currency-01646176225?siteid=yhoof2

Associated Press 10

The move comes in response to the sanctions the U.S. and allies have imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, which this week tanked the ruble and sent Russians flocking to banks and ATMs

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday signed a decree that prohibits taking more than $10,000 worth of foreign currency in cash and “monetary instruments” out of Russia.

11 hours ago, moe666 said:

Am I missing something here, who invaded who. Do not deflect responsibility. Putin ordered the invasion of the Ukraine a legal and recognized country. Yes there are policies on both sides that should have been handled different but invasion is invasion. Ukraine was not a military threat to Russia.

I'm not so sure about that last statement as what Putin has forgotten is that in the good old USSR days the Ukrainians were his best troops and no disrespect to the Ukrainians who are turning out to be robust, calm and unfaltering but the way the Russians are performing a 9 year old with a catapult could be a military threat to Russia.