News Forum - Thailand to fly in Russian tourists on chartered flights this High Season

[MrNovax]

9 hours ago, Janneman said:

Yes, the Russians definitely deserve a holiday after all their hard work.

But TAT might forget the impact of inviting Russians on western tourists. Most will not like the idea of spending their holiday surrounded by relaxing Russian soldiers. 

Im not sure soldiers would get extended vacations during a war but then again ive never been a state authorized murderer.  

[MrNovax]

7 hours ago, Ramanathan.P said:

Every country has to look into its own interest and its own economy. That is the priority. Why USA poke its nose into Ukraine. Because of vested interest. Now the country is provoked and every country is supplying arms to Ukraine to fight. Who is benefitting.....Ukraine....not for sure. Ukraine is dying in debts for generations to come. So don't expect Thailand to sit like a lame duck to kill its economy. Better shake hands and try to revive the country and its people form the ailing economy.

So true, much less uproar after it came out that the USA and UK did everything in its power to extend the war for its own interest and therefore suffering and death but God forbid Russian civilians take a holiday.  

Edited September 21, 2022 by MrNovax

[Rookiescot]

8 minutes ago, MrNovax said:

Im not sure soldiers would get extended vacations during a war but then again ive never been a state authorized murderer.  

The only reason you are able to post that is because of "state authorized murderers". 

[Rookiescot]

7 minutes ago, MrNovax said:

So true, much less uproar after it came out that the USA and UK did everything in its power to extend the war for its own interest and therefore suffering and death but God forbid Russian civilians take a holiday.  

Evidence for that.

[Guest1]

31 minutes ago, MrNovax said:

Im not sure soldiers would get extended vacations during a war but then again ive never been a state authorized murderer.  

Na, they don't get. They get some long weekends, like the US did in Nam with Pattaya

[DiJoDavO]

The general message here about what normal Russians should be allowed to do or rather not, is quite disturbing. In other words, it means that someone accidentally born within those borders, which could be halfway across the world in Vladivostok, far away from Moscow, are not allowed to go anywhere. Just because of where they were born. 

What was it with the complaints that time that Trump had a ban on people from Muslim countries, just because of the actions of a few extremists? 

Not saying I would support him, but it's funny how the general view of that time was totally the opposite of now, but the same situation. 

[Jo64]

10 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

I think most people understand that Thailand is not Europe, and as such there will be people from all over. 

I'm not a big fan of Russians generally, find them a bit miserable, but they're better than the sexpat singlet brigade.

Sorry, Is the disregard of international law and the brutal, groundless attack on another state an issue for Europe alone?

[Sumlee]

Now that Tyrant Putin is mobilising the population to become cannon fodder for him male Russians are packing all available flights to Turkey to escape the draft. Thailand should make it easy for them to come to Thailand and stay for many months. Of course, old-style thinking will prevail.

[Cabra]

Travel agencies in Russia are showing dramatic increases in the demand for flights to anywhere Russians are not required to have a visa. The rich will jet away and the poor will be left behind to be drafted and fight Putin's war 

[Gabriele]

Now that the insane Russian leader has ordered partial mobilization, Russian men are no longer allowed to leave the country, so the charter planes are more likely to be occupied by Russian women and children. For me, however, the question arises as to whether it is justifiable for a Russian citizen to spend his holidays merrily abroad while his compatriots in a foreign country murder Ukrainian citizens at the same time.

[ibgort]

The Russians are leaving only to escape dictator worst than Hitler.  Take their money and watch them like a hawk!  They cannot be trusted.

[Tim_Melb]

16 hours ago, yselmike said:

According to news reports flights out of Russia are in such demand that they are costing €9000+. They are full! Turkey and the middle east are the main destinations,Russians don't need visas.They might head for Thailand!

These reports are probably mostly propaganda. We had this stuff published in the Murdoch media in the last few days and then debunked. Amongst other things they published photos of a 35km long que at the Finnish border of people apparently coming from St Petersberg the problem was that a Finnish Border guard at the claimed border crossing then tweeted a photo of the crossing with not a single car there with the statement that the stories of ques at the border were misinformation... 

[TheDirtyDurian]

2 hours ago, Gabriele said:

Now that the insane Russian leader has ordered partial mobilization, Russian men are no longer allowed to leave the country, so the charter planes are more likely to be occupied by Russian women and children. For me, however, the question arises as to whether it is justifiable for a Russian citizen to spend his holidays merrily abroad while his compatriots in a foreign country murder Ukrainian citizens at the same time.

Brits and American were quite happy to take holidays throughout all the time of illegal war Gulf2, what's the difference?

[yselmike]

1 hour ago, Tim_Melb said:

These reports are probably mostly propaganda. We had this stuff published in the Murdoch media in the last few days and then debunked. Amongst other things they published photos of a 35km long que at the Finnish border of people apparently coming from St Petersberg the problem was that a Finnish Border guard at the claimed border crossing then tweeted a photo of the crossing with not a single car there with the statement that the stories of ques at the border were misinformation... 

Russians need a visa to travel to most countries,that's why the flights to Turkey and the middle east are expensive and full,along with Syria and Venezuela they are visa free for Russians.Most of Europe has put restrictions in place to restrict unnecessary travel.I certainly don't read or quote anything from the Murdoch evil empire.I have subscription's to the Guardian and the Independent.

[Faz]

27 minutes ago, yselmike said:

Russians need a visa to travel to most countries,that's why the flights to Turkey and the middle east are expensive and full,along with Syria and Venezuela they are visa free for Russians

Russians can travel Visa free to 82 Countries.
https://visaguide.world/visa-free-countries/russian-passport/ 

Syria is not one of the 82 Visa free listed Countries, they require a Tourist Visa.
https://visalist.io/syria/visa-requirements/russia

[Manu]

1 hour ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Brits and American were quite happy to take holidays throughout all the time of illegal war Gulf2, what's the difference?

Without going back as far than that, Thailand has recently welcome people from Saudi Arabia, a country that has committed plenty of war crimes in Yemen the past 7 years, the situation there being so bad people are now living one of the worst hunger crisis (https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/brutal-war-yemen-dire-hunger-crisis-teetering-edge-catastrophe). I do not recall any of the moralists on this forum being offended by that. All I remember is a few racist comments, that's all. I guess it is not all over the mainstream media of the West so it cannot be important, who cares about these arabs dying from hunger because of a war in an obscure country...

[Donald]

Well, for once I can only congratulate the Thai government on this initiative. First the average Russian can not be blamed for what their government is up to. And that not only applies to Russian citizens. I can safely say that most, if not all, governments give a rats behind about what their voters would like or want. Like Annalena Bärbock, the German minister for foreign affairs openly said. I don't mind what the German voter thinks, I will stand with Ukraine, no matter what. Of course, if you are in such a privileged position wit a 20.000 Euro plus income a month you don't have to worry what the price of gas, fuel, bread or services will be. And a word for all the Russia phobes, of which there seem to be plenty here. Where were the sanctions when the US, UK and others decided to invade Iraq and in the process caused more then a Million dead, or when they messed up Libya and left a previously prosperous country, for North African standards, as a failed state. And this by NO means implies that I favor the military intervention taking place in the Ukraine, but we should stop being such pathetic hypocrites. Now, you can give me the thumbs down, but not because I am wrong but dare to speak against the only permitted narrative.

[TheDirtyDurian]

1 hour ago, Manu said:

Without going back as far than that, Thailand has recently welcome people from Saudi Arabia, a country that has committed plenty of war crimes in Yemen the past 7 years, the situation there being so bad people are now living one of the worst hunger crisis (https://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/brutal-war-yemen-dire-hunger-crisis-teetering-edge-catastrophe). I do not recall any of the moralists on this forum being offended by that. All I remember is a few racist comments, that's all. I guess it is not all over the mainstream media of the West so it cannot be important, who cares about these arabs dying from hunger because of a war in an obscure country...

Money talks and morals walk. It's only ever about the money in Thailand. 

People forget that.

[hughcow]

You would have to be naive in the extreme to think europeans would be as concerned about a war in Africa as a war in their own backyards in europe. Half the time it is hard to find where there isnt a war, insurgency or coup in Africa. Many have become numb to these goings on in Africa but Europe that has been mostly peaceful for decades is another story and then there is the bogeyman for the last 70 years Russia. Many Russians support Putin and the war in Ukraine and I for 1 do not want to be anywhere near people like that. Thailand still relies on the west as an export market and running foul of western govts especially the U.S. could bring some unpleasant consequences in the form of sanctions. Once again its the anglophone countries doing the heavy lifting for europe. Anyone who can justify those pictures of bombed out buildings hospitals and schools and the very obvious deliberate targeting of civilians is a dispicable human being IMO.

[Rookiescot]

3 hours ago, Donald said:

Where were the sanctions when the US, UK and others decided to invade Iraq and in the process caused more then a Million dead

Evidence for that?

And please do not quote the ORB survey which has been described as "John Rentoul, a columnist for The Independent newspaper, has asserted that the ORB estimate "exaggerate[s] the toll by a factor of as much as 10" and that "the ORB estimate has rarely been treated as credible by responsible media organisations, but it is still widely repeated by cranks and the ignorant."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORB_survey_of_Iraq_War_casualties

 

[Donald]

16 minutes ago, Rookiescot said:

Evidence for that?

And please do not quote the ORB survey which has been described as "John Rentoul, a columnist for The Independent newspaper, has asserted that the ORB estimate "exaggerate[s] the toll by a factor of as much as 10" and that "the ORB estimate has rarely been treated as credible by responsible media organisations, but it is still widely repeated by cranks and the ignorant."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORB_survey_of_Iraq_War_casualties

Even when the death toll would be 10 times less and merely a "meager" 100.000 the principle would still be the same. Where were the sanctions for an aggressive war not sanctioned by the UN and started with fake and manipulated "evidence" of WMD ? Putin is a war monger and so was Bush and Obama. Where is the difference ?

[Rookiescot]

3 minutes ago, Donald said:

Even when the death toll would be 10 times less and merely a "meager" 100.000 the principle would still be the same. Where were the sanctions for an aggressive war not sanctioned by the UN and started with fake and manipulated "evidence" of WMD ? Putin is a war monger and so was Bush and Obama. Where is the difference ?

So the gassing of the Kurds never happened then?

[TheDirtyDurian]

On 9/21/2022 at 7:33 PM, Jo64 said:

Sorry, Is the disregard of international law and the brutal, groundless attack on another state an issue for Europe alone?

Why you sorry?

Geopolitical reality is that countries in Europe will be more concerned about Ukraine than elsewhere.

holiday destinations in Europe will be filled with mostly Europeans, and those countries will be more sensitive to what people want. 

Demographics of Thai tourists changed long ago, any time spent queueing on arrival at Soyouwannaboomboom will tell you that. 

fact of the matter is that Arabs, Indians Africans and many other nationalities make up visitor numbers these days. Chinese too in normal times. It's naive to expect them to care about a Russian on the sunlounger next to them in the same way that a Pole would. 

it's also naive to expect Thailand to ban visitors from Russia. Most Thais couldn't point to Ukraine on a map, it's not a big issue for them, in the same way that the situation in Myanmar is way down on most Euro's priorities. 

So for any Euro offended by the presence of a Russian nearby, they'd better stay away from Thailand, coz that situation ain't changing anytime soon. This is the reality. 

I had to put up with a couple from Birmingham in the next bungalow to me last time I was in a tourist zone, so it could be worse. 

 

[cowslip]

THey're all fleeing the draft.......let's hope they bring a load of cash...their credit cards are worthless....

[cowslip]

5 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Why you sorry?

Geopolitical reality is that countries in Europe will be more concerned about Ukraine than elsewhere.

holiday destinations in Europe will be filled with mostly Europeans, and those countries will be more sensitive to what people want. 

Demographics of Thai tourists changed long ago, any time spent queueing on arrival at Soyouwannaboomboom will tell you that. 

fact of the matter is that Arabs, Indians Africans and many other nationalities make up visitor numbers these days. Chinese too in normal times. It's naive to expect them to care about a Russian on the sunlounger next to them in the same way that a Pole would. 

it's also naive to expect Thailand to ban visitors from Russia. Most Thais couldn't point to Ukraine on a map, it's not a big issue for them, in the same way that the situation in Myanmar is way down on most Euro's priorities. 

So for any Euro offended by the presence of a Russian nearby, they'd better stay away from Thailand, coz that situation ain't changing anytime soon. This is the reality. 

I had to put up with a couple from Birmingham in the next bungalow to me last time I was in a tourist zone, so it could be worse. 

I would hae thought that they would be worried about confrontations on the streets....