PHUKET NEWS TV: Russian Comments 'Revolting'

[stevenl]

I have been 23 times to Russia in the last decade for work , for fun and you cannot judge Russian on the few hundred thousand coming to Thailand on holidays

Very true.

The comments about Russians have nothing to do with Russians in general, but with the Russians coming to Thai;land on holidays.

so you mean ALL russian coming to Thailand are bad ? Well I have seen a lot here and found them much better than many other nationalities.

No, that is not what I mean. What I mean is that in general the Russians are not perceived well because of their nature and because they nearly exclusively don't spend in the traditional way and what they spend they spend with their own brethren.

Also, I would not use the word 'bad' for this, but will say 'different'.

[Wat dee]

Why? Because the vast majority of people who come into contact with Russians don't like them. And with very good reason

What's the "very good reason" ? Please explain

The "very good reason" is that the Russians are better than them in every way and so they hate them out of petty jealousy. These people are from the West, How dare people from the East turn up with better looks and more money. It's just not right that others have more money than them. It felt great having a little bit more money that the poor Thais they hang around, but now the wealthy Russians have spoilt everything. The Russians have shown them to be the cheapskates that they really are. It is so funny seeing them get their comeuppance.

Amazing and very well put.

Amazing bs

[chooka]

Terrible 'news' piece. The journalist goes on and on comments read off Facebook to make his point--was it necessary to repeat some of them several times?-- and I personally didn't find most of the comments all that 'revolting' compared to what is often said about other groups.

That said, this 'news' really shouldn't come as a surprise. Russian tourists often don't behave very well, and Russia itself has been acting poorly on the international stage (largely with the support of its people), and this will have an impact on the image of individual Russians.

But also see the results of this global survey taken before the current crisis in the Ukraine: http://www.pewglobal.org/2013/09/03/global-opinion-of-russia-mixed/ The Russians weren't very popular internationally back before they became daily news fodder; much less popular than Americans even. :-) They're very unpopular in western Europe (except for Britain and Greece), the Middle East (where their government stood against the Arab Spring), and in several places in Asia. Much of this likely reflects political events, but reactions to those events bleeds into our attitudes toward the people. And it's only gotten worse since then...

Phuket needs more Aussies. We after all are much more refined and socially acceptable to Thais.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VK9h3vbjHKw&feature=player_detailpage

[Wat dee]

I wonder how many of the " russian apologists " have actually lived with Russians?

[2fishin2]

Russians late at night walk up and down walking street and bangla road, beers in one hand children in the other. Might be a reason they get a bad rap ya think?

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[jpeg]

You'll never here a Thai say 'pu dee Russia'

[Equalizer]

I saw the facebook posting and and it made me sad to be a human being.

If you own a business here, especially a higher end business, everyone will agree that Russian tourism has been a godsend.

The "Russians are rude, arrogant, etc" comments are from people who run low-end accommodations, restaurants, and shops, or the tourists who frequent them. (Click their profile and see where they work) What do you expect? Especially with the language barrier.

People hate on the Russians (especially the barstool sexpat singlet crowd) because :

1.the Russians generally have a normal family, more money than them, and keep to themselves. Nobody likes people who talk to much.

2. The haters hang around low end places and as such run into "rude Russians at 7/11" (what do you expect)

3. The Russians don't need to pay for sex and the Russian ladies are fantastic.

So, to the Russians coming here, please ignore the comments of the ignorant.

You are obviously not well informed at all and firstly how you can class 7/11 as a low end place is plain pathetic. Russians do not have much money to spend here at all. Most of them stay in the Ambassador crowded into one room 6 at a time. This is because the franchise is Russian and this is how they market it back home. 80% of petty theft by foreigners is done by Russian tourists. You have only encountered a very small percentage of wealthy Russians. This is probably because you are financially secure yourself and your location only offers this option. Basically a man with self righteous comments who is first to put down the lower classes because of your status, ''probably inherited'' A lot of expats here are not wealthy just have a better lifestyle for the income. A lot of Russian people here are not wealthy and are here for the same reasons. People make these comments for a reason and the sheer number has to have some kind of validity. These people have had their own experience and thus make a comment. Sir please do not insult peoples intelligence because intelligence is free for the masses.

[kc4asia]

The comments about the Russians are "revolting"? I prefer the term "realistic". I had been saying long before this article how rude and offensive Russians in Thailand are. Loud. Drunk. Disorderly. Homophobic. Engage in criminal behavior. What do people expect? This is the way they are. Thailand brought it on itself when it liberalized visa rules of Russians. Now we see the result. Good riddance to all those who have left or not come. May the remaining hordes follow.

[Jingthing]

My understanding is that it really is true that it is now Russian government policy to promote Russian "sun tourism" to CRIMEA. You know, that lovely spot of Putin's "New" Russia. I saw a documentary about this and indeed the Russian tourists are flocking there. Including patriotic school trips. That and the weakened Ruble and Thailand will be noticing this drop-off in Russian numbers. I certainly have noticed it in Pattaya, though it's still relative, still PLENTY of Russians here.

Edited September 6, 2014 by Jingthing

[thhMan]

Being pushed out of the way... Screaming instead of Talking... are things that I have noticed more prevalent in the last few years in Thailand as more Russians visit.... Before then it wasn't so noticeable...

I spent one year in Ukraine and that is something I noticed being different to the culture I was raised up in....

Ive also noticed the same disregard for what "I am used to as social etiquette" from the Chinese tourist and probably even more so with them.

Edited September 6, 2014 by thhMan

[foxboy]

I've had a couple of bad encounters with Russians and a few good encounters too.

No different to any other nationalities really.

Would be nice if they smiled more often and could speak better English

Other than that I don't care

[LivinginKata]

even more inflammatory troll posts being removed.

[phanangpete]

A lot of the wealthier Russians can communicate as the've learnt English, some of them will find it in their favour to integrate, if allowed, with the expats living in Thailand.

Reason is acceptance, this is with most of the expats who came here before them, they as 'normal' humans want a social life , maybe start a business and see the the usefullness of having customers.

The alternative is to cater only for Russians, non integration applies.

The vast majority that have arrived here over the last few years are on package holidays, no English and no social skills, ie: sit on beach all day, back to Hotel, eat all you can free, then to 7/11 buy Vodka and go sit on balcony and shout, not looking for points there , are they .

Most of there women are lovely and have been an added attraction to the likes of Pattaya, but alas now they can't stay and become professional ladies, as they have only a tourist visa and have to go home, what a shame.

Some decided to go to Phuket, and work, some decided to open a restaurant and sell illegal substances, alas has'nt worked, so back home for a rethink.

Thanks to immigration Thailand, problem nipped in the bud.

Please believe me i talk from experience ( about them, i mean ) you reap what you sow, and that applies to everyone, i believe !

[jmacken306]

Glad to see the decline, Hope the new PM cleans up Puhket, my friends have sold or left their business because of the Russian Mafia this year!

[Jingthing]

Look, it is easy to generalize.

I hate Putin and I am offended by some of the behaviors of some of the Russians I encounter in Thailand.

But it is not fair to apply blanket PRE-judgments about ALL people of ANY GROUP based on such rough generalizations.

I try to have an open mind about each new person I encounter. All people deserve a chance to show they themselves as individuals are not A-holes.

Yes?

Cultural differences, like not smiling at strangers, that's just something non-Russians should learn about and not take personally.

Edited September 6, 2014 by Jingthing

[stevenl]

There are 2 things an issue here:

1. The Russian behaviour, which is different from that of a westerner;

2. the spending of the vast majority of the Russian tourists, which is in many cases non-existent.

[bubblegum]

I think the Russians are very bad indeed. But so are the French and the Brits. As a matter of fact the Aussies are bad as are the Germans, Americans, Suisse, Italians. Not to mention all Arabs, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and the whole of Afrika and South America.

Bad, bad, bad all of them. Exept the Dutch of cause :-)

[LivinginKata]

Once again - stop the Russian bashing. Your posts will just be removed.

[coolkat]

One is responsible for their behavior and i have noticed this for like a very long time.

When the offenders are say caucasian that is say those from western europe and russia etc people tend to defend their bad behavior and just allow them some leeway.

Yet let's just assume the comments were on chinese people from china. Suddenly people feel justified on making degradatory comments on them.

Notice the difference.

[Yahooka]

I saw the facebook posting and and it made me sad to be a human being.

If you own a business here, especially a higher end business, everyone will agree that Russian tourism has been a godsend.

The "Russians are rude, arrogant, etc" comments are from people who run low-end accommodations, restaurants, and shops, or the tourists who frequent them. (Click their profile and see where they work) What do you expect? Especially with the language barrier.

People hate on the Russians (especially the barstool sexpat singlet crowd) because :

1.the Russians generally have a normal family, more money than them, and keep to themselves. Nobody likes people who talk to much.

2. The haters hang around low end places and as such run into "rude Russians at 7/11" (what do you expect)

3. The Russians don't need to pay for sex and the Russian ladies are fantastic.

So, to the Russians coming here, please ignore the comments of the ignorant.

You still believe in the barstool myth that the Russians here has more money than the Westerners??

The rich Russians around here you will hardly ever meet and most of them will travel to other destinations around the world.

And those well off Russians are more modest and polite, compared to most of their country men that travels to Pattaya and Phuket.

[Loptr]

Hmm curious... At 4:00 minutes into the OP's video, the editor of the Russia branch of the newspaper said that yes, some Russians are rude and arrogant... So then why are the comments on the FB page considered "revolting" when a Russian admits it?

[Hans Donnerborg]

probly some that are payed to have a different opinion.

[Chalongian]

The most revolting thing in this report is that Ozzies pink pants and purple shirt combo. How's he supposed to be an authority on whats revolting or not walking around like that? 555

[Hans Donnerborg]

he forgot one of my statements !

rofl.

payment is ofcourse in the form bend over - well you know the drill !

[KarenBravo]

At least from the Game-fishing industry in Phuket, the Russians have been their saviours for the last three years. Without them, most of the single boat operations would have gone under.

Property business has also been propped up by Russian money for at least a couple of years.

There are the poor Siberians that come on the mass tours, have not much spending money and shop at 711.

Then there are the rich, independent Russians staying in 5-star hotels, chartering yachts and buying property. You hardly ever see them.

I am presently on board a Russian owned ship with a Russian crew chartered by a Russian company, working in Russian waters.

I like Russians, on the whole. Very generous people.

Edited September 8, 2014 by KarenBravo

[kingalfred]

Russians have always worn as a badge if pride the fact they are ill mannered an unsociable, arrogant Fits the country's leadership

[phuketandsee]

In my work I come into contact with tourists from virtually every country in the world including from 10-20 Russians a day and there is no question in my mind (and that of my co-workers) that they are the most miserably and by far the rudest group.

Now I accept that it is their tight to look miserable all the time (and I would too every time I saw an example of what their lovely 20-something girlfriend was going to turn into after she hit 40) but there is no excuse for their rudeness. Ok, so they don't speak much English but how hard is it to learn to say "hello," "please" and "thank you"? I have mastered it in Russian. Or just smile instead even if it's not your cultural norm. It is in the country you are visiting and with all the other people you come across.

They only have themselves to blame for their unpopularity and the fact they don't seem to care, speaks volumes in itself.