There's trouble in paradise on the Thai holiday island of Phuket. An influx of Russians buying property and setting up their own businesses is causing tension with locals. Hundreds of thousands of Russians have fled the country since the invasion of Ukraine and with restrictions on travelling to EU countries, many have discovered the favourite tourist destination.
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TVTranscript
00:00 Sunset, selfies and Cyrillic in the sand.
00:07 I love Phuket because it's warm and very beautiful.
00:14 The island of Phuket is not exactly a hard sell,
00:17 and there's one particular type of buyer driving a property boom.
00:21 Russians love Phuket because Phuket is a very nice place to live and spend your holiday.
00:26 Almost half a million Russians arrived in Phuket between January and July this year,
00:31 and about 10,000 of them decided to stay long term.
00:35 And everything is made in light colours.
00:39 Kristina Kamysheva lived in Siberia before selling Sunset on Phuket.
00:44 She says the influx of Russian buyers has contributed to big price rises,
00:49 particularly on the western side of the island.
00:52 We are in the best unit in terms of view.
00:55 Usually it's 5% every year, the price increased for 5%.
01:00 But this year I think it was boom, so it increased for 10 or even 20%.
01:07 80% of the buyers in this complex are Russians,
01:10 and they're now the leading international buyers of property across the island.
01:15 Locals are so happy with Russian tourists coming here.
01:18 You don't think there's any tension?
01:19 No, no.
01:21 But local business owners like Sekhon disagree.
01:26 Russian people run their own hotels.
01:28 They provide car rental services and tour packages for customers,
01:32 so they don't have to find those by themselves.
01:35 The benefits do not reach local people or legitimate businesses.
01:40 The Opposition Move Forward Party says the government
01:42 should give Russians more rights to work legally.
01:46 Thai people, they welcome foreigners to stay, to live together in Thailand.
01:52 But we need everyone to comply with the law.
01:55 It's not just illegal work some locals are worried about.
01:59 There are also reports of Russians being involved
02:02 in widespread criminal activity on Phuket.
02:05 But that's not really supported by the statistics.
02:08 Of the 635 foreigners who were charged with offences
02:11 in the first half of this year, only 78 were Russian.
02:14 And police say there's no evidence of a mafia presence on the island.
02:19 With winter coming in Russia and no end in sight for the war in Ukraine,
02:23 the influx of Russians only looks set to increase.
02:27 [BLANK_AUDIO]