Phuket’s ‘Russian invasion’ – they’re here to stay

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, Goat said:

That is a bit rich coming from someone from the USA IMO.

You can knock the US all you want, and granted there are some pretty crude people from the US (Trump is a great example), but the Russians beat the rudest Texan by a factor of 20. 

[spidermike007]

4 hours ago, rexpotter said:

Extremely well written and true. I tried very hard while in Bali to get to know them as I had enjoyed their writers, ballet, music and paintings. They all took advantage of me, and when they got what they needed they dissapeared. The current generation of them were taught the hard line from their parents who went through the crap there. Advice to Thai gov, give them Phuket right now, and stop any further invasion, kind of like Ukraine.

I tend to agree, if there were only a way to lock them onto the island once they were there, and prevent them from leaving and polluting the rest of the country. 

[transam]

2 hours ago, Goat said:

That is a bit rich coming from someone from the USA IMO.

I think you are a bit confused, cobber.......🤔

[VBF]

1 hour ago, spidermike007 said:

You can knock the US all you want, and granted there are some pretty crude people from the US (Trump is a great example), but the Russians beat the rudest Texan by a factor of 20. 

Having lived in Houston in the eighties, I agree. The thing with people from the southern USA (in my personal experience) is that they tend to be unaware of foreign events, compared, that is, to those from "above the line". BUT.... I found people from the South (those damn rednecks 😆 ) to be very courteous and gregarious. Before anyone jumps at me for generalising, these are just my personal experiences! 

[john donson]

meanwhile we dumb farang have to pay tax and follow stupid rules ...

[stevenl]

14 minutes ago, john donson said:

meanwhile we dumb farang have to pay tax and follow stupid rules ...

You know Russian, most of them anyway are farang?

[thaibreaker]

5 hours ago, Excogitator said:

You sound more like a russian propaganda-troll than a level headed Belgian.. 'valiant USSR soldiers', 'supporting putin 100%', and raving on about 'Ukrainian nazis'..

The Russian troll factory is working on all 4 cylinders. Wow!

I will try not to make Belgium a no visit country for me, but this was hard to read. I always looked at Belgians as sane and reasonable people, but what on god's green earth was this .. Probably not a Belgian at all.

[spidermike007]

2 hours ago, VBF said:

Having lived in Houston in the eighties, I agree. The thing with people from the southern USA (in my personal experience) is that they tend to be unaware of foreign events, compared, that is, to those from "above the line". BUT.... I found people from the South (those damn rednecks 😆 ) to be very courteous and gregarious. Before anyone jumps at me for generalising, these are just my personal experiences! 

I tend to agree, I have a lot of experience with Southerners and Texans and though they may be crude at times, they tend to be polite and gracious and fun to be around, which makes them the polar opposite of a typical Russian. 

[zhounan]

Honestly I appreciate the Russians. 

[flyingfox1]

On 4/13/2024 at 1:58 PM, Tedly said:

 How are they buying property? I thought foreigners could not buy land, or are they setting up corporations and buying with Thai people? 

who mentioned land ? 🤔 

[stevenl]

3 hours ago, zhounan said:

Honestly I appreciate the Russians. 

Why is that?

[GammaGlobulin]

If these Russians, newly arrived in Thailand, are not White Russians...then....

 

What Color ARE They?

 

(Look at the Muscular Legs on some of these White Russian girls! Ballet is great exercise.)

 

https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/long-reads/article/3107622/how-white-russian-ballet-dancers-sparked?campaign=3107622&module=perpetual_scroll_0&pgtype=article

[VBer]

9 hours ago, Excogitator said:

I wonder what they (russians) are saying about us in their (russian speaking) forums?

Nothing at all. No any discussions about other nationalities, except Thais. Thais are discussed in the way what to expect then hiring them, their social patterns or so. Foreigners from other countries are just  living nearby in parallel universe.

[GammaGlobulin]

4 hours ago, thaibreaker said:

The Russian troll factory is working on all 4 cylinders. Wow!

I will try not to make Belgium a no visit country for me, but this was hard to read. I always looked at Belgians as sane and reasonable people, but what on god's green earth was this .. Probably not a Belgian at all.

 

Do the Russians read TV comments?

 

[LivinginKata]

3 hours ago, zhounan said:

Honestly I appreciate the Russians. 

 

I have been looking at all these Russian bashing posts. Over 25 years of long term home rentals I cant think of a 'bad' Russian tenant. On the other we have had many Brit/German/Dutch/Spanish horror stories. Right now we are all full in Kata with Russian. All very  nice neighbours.

[AreYouGerman]

Instead of bashing the Russians for getting 90 days and somehow are allowed to go to Thailand while the Ukrainians aren't allowed to leave, you should ask your government to get a better deal with Thailand. Oh, right, it's probably a Democracy so it doesn't care about the individual.

[Excogitator]

22 minutes ago, VBer said:

Nothing at all. No any discussions about other nationalities, except Thais. Thais are discussed in the way what to expect then hiring them, their social patterns or so. Foreigners from other countries are just  living nearby in parallel universe.

Thanks for that VBer.

[GammaGlobulin]

I am a huge fan of Russians!

 

People like Shostakovich, Rostropovich, and Rodion Raskolnikov.

 

Keep in mind that even Rostropovich was well known for his excessive and very earthy appetites.

 

Yet, his cello playing was priceless.

 

 

 

[connda]

Nothing like an article on Russia and Russians to bring out the xenophobic, ingrained hatred that Westerners have learned from their state-run schools and institutions.

There is a different way - get along, trade, seek common ground as fellow humans.  But no.  Westerners simply can't help themselves from engaging in ad-hominid attacks on ethnic Russians because "everyone in the West knows that Russians are evil."  And Chinese too.  And Iranians too.  And anyone whom your Foreign Affairs of your home country states is evil.  And as good clones, ya'll just repeat the tropes.  Why?
Because the West is "indispensable" in their own minds.

That's ok.  The "golden billion" will never learn, but as the rest of humanity coalesces into economic and defense unions which will simply isolate the West?  Big changes are coming. Well, unless they dying empires provoke world war with nukes.  Then it's all a moot point.

Countries like Thailand are smart to stay neutral and simply benefit from economic trade.

[Vae Victis]

Next generation of luk khrueng gonna be interesting...

Sergeï Suppanathep and Varaporn Kalashnikov !

Give me a break.

 

[agogohome]

Where are all the arrested Russians going to be jailed, before being returned to their glorious leader for avoiding conscription? 

[Excogitator]

40 minutes ago, connda said:

Nothing like an article on Russia and Russians to bring out the xenophobic, ingrained hatred that Westerners have learned from their state-run schools and institutions.

There is a different way - get along, trade, seek common ground as fellow humans.  But no.  Westerners simply can't help themselves from engaging in ad-hominid attacks on ethnic Russians because "everyone in the West knows that Russians are evil."  And Chinese too.  And Iranians too.  And anyone whom your Foreign Affairs of your home country states is evil.  And as good clones, ya'll just repeat the tropes.  Why?
Because the West is "indispensable" in their own minds.

That's ok.  The "golden billion" will never learn, but as the rest of humanity coalesces into economic and defense unions which will simply isolate the West?  Big changes are coming. Well, unless they dying empires provoke world war with nukes.  Then it's all a moot point.

Countries like Thailand are smart to stay neutral and simply benefit from economic trade.

'get along, trade, seek common ground as fellow humans.' 

 

Care to comment on this then?

2014-2022 – Russian-Ukrainian war

2015-2022 – Russian intervention in Syria

2008 – Russian-Georgian war

1999-2009 – second Russian-Chechen war

1994-1996 – first Russian-Chechen war

1992-1993 – Russia occupies Transnistria

etc...

 

[VBer]

50 minutes ago, agogohome said:

avoiding conscription? 

There is no mandatory conscription in Russia for more than a year, but such comments still keep popping in the forum

[MarkyM3]

3 hours ago, connda said:

Nothing like an article on Russia and Russians to bring out the xenophobic, ingrained hatred that Westerners have learned from their state-run schools and institutions.

There is a different way - get along, trade, seek common ground as fellow humans.  But no.  Westerners simply can't help themselves from engaging in ad-hominid attacks on ethnic Russians because "everyone in the West knows that Russians are evil."  And Chinese too.  And Iranians too.  And anyone whom your Foreign Affairs of your home country states is evil.  And as good clones, ya'll just repeat the tropes.  Why?
Because the West is "indispensable" in their own minds.

That's ok.  The "golden billion" will never learn, but as the rest of humanity coalesces into economic and defense unions which will simply isolate the West?  Big changes are coming. Well, unless they dying empires provoke world war with nukes.  Then it's all a moot point.

Countries like Thailand are smart to stay neutral and simply benefit from economic trade.

Nothing against Russians, met some good people, but the majority do not mix well in my experience and generally have few social graces. Plenty of anecdotal evidence on this forum and elsewhere would back that up imo. Also, it seems plenty of those who fled to Thailand still support their dictator-for-life's endeavours from afar while the poor are sent to the meat grinder in Ukraine. It wouldn't bother me if their expat population stays in Phuket and Pattaya, I don't go to either place. 

 

Btw, I am not in favour of farang ghettos dominated by any one nationality, including my own. But Westerners tend to mix better with each other, that's my experience.

 

As for China, at one time I would have agreed they would become the world's dominant power but nowadays I think you're dead wrong. The economy and real estate sector is in a total mess and the demographics are not favourable. Deflation is about to set in, like the lost decades in Japan. The government, where power is concentrated in another dictator for life and his acolytes, seemingly have no business acumen at all and assume rebalancing their economy to high-value exports will just "happen". The youth unemployment figures are no longer published after going north of 20% - fact is, China has hordes of graduates and nowhere near enough decent jobs to offer, people didn't go to university to take low-paid factory jobs.

 

If you want further evidence of the economic stagnation, the Hang Seng Index is around the same level it was 27 years ago....Hong Kong's role as a world financial centre is widely seen as doomed. Solution - pass an ill-defined National Security Law to stop anyone complaining.  

 

I (foolishly) invested in China and HK in the past and am well down so I do keep a close eye on what goes on.

 

Xi's leadership has been a disaster. Covid lockdown for 3 years and suddenly abandoned when people could finally take no more. His policy. No surprise he was wheeled out recently when various US CEOs were visiting recently, asking them to invest in the country. It smacks of desperation. The reality is, overseas investors are fed up with the unpredictable investment environment and are looking to places like India.  

 

If you think an axis of China, Russia, North Korea and Iran is gonna take over from the Western nations, I honestly think you're totally deluded. Remember China is an export economy and relies on Western custom, like it or not. One reason they aren't selling weapons to Russia, they can't afford to be sanctioned.

 

The West innovates, your axis rules by dictatorship, fear and censorship. I know which side most people will prefer to be on so no way will that succeed. We've even seen Chinese nationals trying to cross the border into the USA, sadly some dying in the process. Not seeing many going the other way are we?

 

[NZAMBOY]

18 hours ago, rexpotter said:

Extremely well written and true. I tried very hard while in Bali to get to know them as I had enjoyed their writers, ballet, music and paintings. They all took advantage of me, and when they got what they needed they dissapeared. The current generation of them were taught the hard line from their parents who went through the crap there. Advice to Thai gov, give them Phuket right now, and stop any further invasion, kind of like Ukraine.

Yes, for Russians, truth and honor are seen as a weakness to be exploited...

[agogohome]

7 hours ago, VBer said:

There is no mandatory conscription in Russia for more than a year, but such comments still keep popping in the forum

Because all those eligible are in Thailand?

[YaiJung]

Surly Russians, surly locals.  Match made in heaven.  They can have it.  I am glad we moved north.  No beach, no ruskies. 

[Henryford]

Looks like i will never visit Phuket again.

[Polaky]

11 minutes ago, Henryford said:

Looks like i will never visit Phuket again.

You can still go, lease an apartment off a Russian, and mingle in the over crowded beaches.

[VBer]

31 minutes ago, agogohome said:

Because all those eligible are in Thailand?

Because conscription started in September 2022 and finished in November 2022, but still exist in some peoples heads. Since November 2022 only those who volunteered going to war.