Every coin has its reverse and the growing number of Russians coming to Phuket is no exception. On the one hand, thousands of tourists come with millions of baht to spend and growing tourist arrivals are the main reason for Phuket’s economic prosperity.
On the other hand, alongside the tourists come hundreds of Russian businesspeople eager to get their slice of this pie. And, as any long-time Phuket resident may tell you, this can sometimes lead to problems.
In the spirit of improving international relations, this monthly column will examine and try to understand what Russians themselves call “the mysterious Russian soul”.
The most common question about Russians is, “Why are they so rude?”
This widespread opinion actually sounds a bit offensive to Russians. Yes, we can be arrogant or rude, but no more than people from any other country. Each nation has good and bad people, pleasant and rude, intelligent and ignorant.
But Russians are stereotyped as being rude 24/7.
One explanation lies in linguistics. Russian methods of communicating, both verbal and non-verbal, are quite different from those of the Europeans and Thais.
The Russian attitude toward smiling is No 1 on the list of differences. Russian philologist Iosif Sternin defines this as the “routine absence of smile”.
While Thais and Westerners view the smile as a normal facial expression, Russians treat it as something special. When you live in Russia you need a strong reason to raise the ends of your lips.
A constant smile is viewed either as something artificial and insincere, or as a sign of a simple mind. Numerous Russian proverbs refer to laughing for no reason as an attribute of a fool or as a sign of some sinister intent.
The same applies to standard modes of politeness such as “How are you?” and other courteous (but basically meaningless) questions.
A Russian reserves such questions for his closest friends, not for strangers.
When you ask Americans, “How are you?” they are always either “great” or “fine” and only a recent earthquake in their home town or similar-scale disaster can make them answer differently.
But Russians never say they are “great” or “fine” because, to them, this would sound like boasting.
Normally the lack of smiles and polite questions is accompanied by a specific manner of speaking.
Russian is one the most melodic languages in the world, though one would hardly believe it listening to Russians for the first time. The reason lies within the field of linguo-psychology.
Russians are generally afraid of looking simple-minded, naïve or childish, which would make them an easy target for a cheat.
So a Russian man will do his best to emphasise his masculinity. He will use a deep, loud voice, he will frown, he will glare – all the attributes of the alpha male that many Russian men learn in childhood.
To some extent this can also be apply with the women. This behavior is more a defence mechanism than intentional rudeness. The soft inside of a Russian’s soul is reserved for those closest to him or her.
The only solution for a Westerner or Thai planning to do business with Russians is to accept all these defence mechanisms as part of the Russian character and to wait for the time when they let you into their inner circle.
Actually, if you are open-minded enough, that won’t take long.
Anton Makrov is Managing Editor of The Phuket News’ Russian-language sister paper, Novosti Phuketa.