Ohio

I'm originally from Russia but migrated to a Western country more  than 20 years ago just before the collapse of the USSR. I've travelled to Russia many  times since then and still have a property there. At the same time I've been  coming to Pattaya since 1991 and almost call it home now. I thought my take on  the topic of this forum may be of value to others.

                 The first groups of Russian tourists  appeared in Pattaya in the earlier 90s. They were mainly small traders who came  to Thailand to buy cheap  textiles to be sold back in Russia  in public markets. Soon young single Russian women also started arriving here  on a lookout for rich Western customers and long-term partners. With time  Russians were getting wealthier, some by grabbing state assets in the privatization  drive, others through criminal enterprise or by working abroad. The type of  Russians holidaying here was changing too.Traders and poor ambitions young wenches were  replaced by couples and families. As late as 2001-2002 I was still meeting many  Russian chicks here who either came for short holidays taking a break from work  at nightclubs in Korea and Japan, or directly from Russia in  search of foreign husbands who would save them economic misery back at home.  They were very much interested in Western guys even of mature age. But as the  Western capital poured into Russia  rising asset prices and salaries there the girls no longer needed to travel  outside their homeland, to speak foreign languages, and to adapt to foreign  culture, in order to find a financially secure partner. Consequently in Pattaya  numerous girls from Russia  available short time and long time were replaced by girls from less fortunate  parts of the former USSR,  such as Uzbekistan. Real Russian girls have quickly put their  'sinful' past behind them and started looking at aging Western men in Pattaya  with righteous contempt.

             As oil prices were shot up during 2004-2008  so were the fortunes of Russian populace who started flooding Pattaya during  high seasons. I do not think that the tourism statistics from TOT quoted by  other members of this forum is not to be trusted. Nowdays the Thailand  immigration control is computerized and efficient and the statistics by  nationality is easy to compile. The most specific set of numbers from TOT  titled "Guest Arrivals at Accommodation   Establishments"  (http://www.tourism.g...rism.php?cid=26) provides a  number of tourists of every nationality in Pattaya. Last time I checked them  Russians represented about a third of all tourists in Pattaya during 2008 high  season. This high season the share of Russians looks more like 40-50% thanks to  fewer Western tourists. The Russian economy is still very much cash based and  the stock market investments are not common so most ordinary Russians were not  affected by the recent financial crisis. Their tourist numbers dropped last  year mainly due to the fear that the world economy was about to collapse and  the Thai airport troubles. I think that the Russian standards of living are  higher than what the official GDP stat indicates. The share of Russian grey  economy could be as high as 50-70% of the official one and if you adjust for  that the Russia's  GDP per capita will not be that much below the EU figure. In addition Russians  are asset-rich thanks to the success of the past socialist policy that provided  every family with housing and to the recent real estate boom there. I've read  recently that about 5000 Russians live permanently in Pattaya and about 15000  own or rent a property here and now they are even building a Russian church in  the town. Most Russian tourists nowadays are indeed well off. A good friend of  mine works at the Sheraton Resort on Pratumnak Hill and he told me that from  Christmas to the end of January when room prices are at the highest most of the  hotel guests are Russians. They also tend to stay at the hotel longer than  other nationalities: for a month on average. The  hotel even employs a Russian receptionist to cater for them. The Royal Cliff  Resort is packed with Russians in high season and provides them with Orthodox  church service.

            Among educated city-dwelling Russians  Pattaya has always had a reputation as a resort for 'racketeers'. Since late  nineties my Russian friends in Moscow, who all  are university graduates, preferred to stay in Phuket or Samui when holidaying  in Thailand.  The Russian tourists here today are still the same kind as 10 years ago: either  'proletariat' or mafia type. Most of them come from  provincial areas of Ural, Siberia, and the Far East, and not from the European  part of Russia.  This is reflected in their appearance and manners.

            A question of how most Russian tourists  come to Pattaya was raised in this forum. I believe that most of them now  arrive in Thailand  through the Suvanabhumi airport.During high season however many do fly  directly to Utapao. The airport's website lists weekly all arriving flights and  one can see that most of them are from places like Almaty,  Kazakhstan (another  fortunate part of the former USSR)  or Ekaterinaburg in the Urals.

        Another aspect of this forum was about how  Russians behave in Pattaya. Bullying is very much a part of the Russian social  culture. It is also still very much a macho culture especially in the  culturally backward Eastern and Asian parts of the country. Russians see only  two categories of men, strong ones and weak ones. 'Strong' means physically and  psychologically domineering. Naturally they all try to be in the first  category. Being polite and sensitive to needs of others is considered a  weakness. That is why you will rarely see a Russian giving way on a narrow path  to a pedestrian walking in the opposite direction, or holding a door for  someone behind. To some extent Russian women share the same philosophy. You  will rarely see Russians thanking staff in restaurants or hotels. A lot of this  also comes from the fact Russians in Pattaya made they money quickly through  various opportunistic semi-legal business schemes and not by saving from wages  for years in employment. They feel superior to all those who are employed in  common jobs. There a lot of racism in the insular Russian culture. Ordinary  folks consider non-Caucasian races, especially those with colored skin, as  inferior. This is one of the reasons why many Russians look at Western males in  Pattaya walking with their Thai girlfriends with contempt as at losers who  failed to qualify for a Caucasian female.

    Russians also tend to reject the idea of  paying for sex and there is a well known Russian joke that it was Russians who  invented love in order to avoid paying money for sex. I might add to this a  popular belief among Russians that their females are the most beautiful in the  world. I suspect Western males' infatuation with Russian 'brides' (who indeed  became widely available to foreigners during the first decade of hardships  after disintegration of the Soviet Union) and  a love affair of the international fashion industry with  Russian models (who were much cheaper to hire  than Western ones) have a lot to do with this. This fed the Russian superiority  complex further. The current Russian government actively encourages this  attitude through public media and most Russians nowadays are rather more  chauvinistic than 10-20 years ago. The cold war attitude is still deeply  ingrained in the Russian psychic and most Russians look at the West as a  competitor, or even an enemy, in military, economic and cultural global arenas.  So if a Western tourist may not think much about the Russian restaurant 'Our  Russia' on the top floor of the new Central Pattaya  beach shopping centre, to Russians in symbolizes another small victory in  Russian expansion in the world. I'm amazed how Russians have changed since 20  years ago. Then most of us in the USSR looked at Westerners and  Western culture as superior in every respect. Most Russians are cynical  characters and all the Western calls for international co-operation and  partnership does not cut much ice with them.

    Unfortunately Russians do not hold much  respect for old age in their country and as most of the Russians here are younger than the  average Pattaya Western tourist or resident they feel again winners. This is  because they think they have achieved the same level of living standards as the  old Westerners around them but much earlier in life.

        Decades of communism and consumer goods  shortage have largely rooted ideas of a dress style in Russian population as  everyone wore mostly the same drab style of clothes. So even if Russians got  money now their fashion sense and taste for outfits stuck somewhere back in the  70s. Ridiculous hats and caps and clashing colours that Russian tourists wear  here never stop amusing my Thai girlfriend. She can't help smiling whenever she  sees those ladies wearing high heels and extravagant floating dresses and  walking along the beach in Pattaya in the middle of a hot day. Russian guys  wearing beach shorts together with socks and pointed office shoes cause the  same reaction. Despite the funny dress styles, rude behaviour, and arrogance of  Russian tourists my experience indicates that Thais actually like them just as  much as other farang nationalities. Perhaps it is that to Thais Russians are  simply another type of eccentric farang. In my experience Thais are much more  annoyed by Indian tourists than Russian ones.

        Now about the mismatch of beautiful Russian  girls and their burly, poorly dressed boyfriends. My mother used to say that  women should be beautiful and men ugly. This is a typical belief among Russians  that it is women who must look fashionable, dress well, and look after  themselves. Men are not supposed to worry about style of their clothes or  haircut. The ideal man in Russian woman's eyes is heavy built, wide-shouldered,  with a big head and a booming voice. His hygiene is not that important and  heavy body odours are not frowned upon.

        In relation to the chances of the average  Western mature age guy in Pattaya bedding a beautiful and young Russian female  tourist I think that you have to have a fortune of millions and  generosity to spend a lot of it to compete with Russian guys. My Sheraton  friend told me of a typical Russian unequal age couple staying at the hotel for  some time last year. He was around 60 and ordinary in look. She was a beautiful  teenage model. They stayed at the most expensive villa at the resort priced at  40,000 baht per night. If you can afford this then you may have a chance. And  of course if you don't speak Russian there would be an extra price to pay for the  girl's inconvenience. One more thing. Russians generally are not known for  their smiles. So if even if you do have what it takes to get a Russian girl who  is much younger than you don't expect the same friendliness or warmth as you  get from a Thai girl in a similar situation. Russian females are not used to  servitude and are not used to hiding their emotions. That is why Uzbek girls of  Russian background working in Pattaya mainly go with Indian and Middle Eastern customers  as those do not expect their companion for the night to smile to them or show  any affection.

    And finally on the subject of the overall effect  of the Russian tide on Pattaya. I think the view that this benefits Pattaya is  short-sighted. Higher number of tourists and expats of any nationality here  leads to increased competition for services, meaning less available attractive  girls in bars, overloaded mini buses, more traffic jams, longer supermarket  checkout queues, less rental property availability, etc.  It also means higher prices on all these  services. The only 'benefit' I see is that property prices go up faster. But  why would you want Pattaya to turn into London  in terms of prices? Your house may be worth much more thanks to Russians but  you are no longer living in a paradise small resort with fresh air, easy  traffic, and plenty of inexpensive young attractive friendly girls around. And I don't think that  we feel any better when we are out with our Thai girlfriends and we see loads  of more beautiful young Russian females looking down at us from passing TEZ  (popular Russian tour operator here) tour buses and thinking 'miserable old  farts'.