Russian Ambassador in Phuket

According to the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket), Mr Tomikhin was in Phuket “to discuss government matters about the situation of Russian tourists in Phuket and increasing cooperation between Phuket Province and the Russian Federation and bilateral cooperation.”

Also present for the talks was Russian Consul-General to Phuket Vladimir V. Sosnov.

Despite the agenda described, the PR Phuket report noted only two issues discussed as significant enough to report: the setting up of a Muay Thai camp in Phuket and Phuket becoming a sister city with the Kamchatka Krai Administrative Region.

Mr Tomikhin was welcomed to the new Phuket Provincial Hall by Phuket Vice Governor Pichet Panapong, who said Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew was unavailable due to attending to official matters, said the report.

Vice Governor Pichet noted that there were currently about 8,000 Russian nationals on the island, mostly tourists.

“This year marks the 125th anniversary of Thai-Russia relations, which will come to an end in July 2022,” V/Gov Pichet said, noted the report.

Come July, Phuket is hoped to have formed official relations with the Kamchatka Krai Administrative Region as a sister city, he added.

“Thailand is in the process of reviewing the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between Thailand and Kamchatka,” V/Gov Pichet said.

“It is a matter for the Treaty Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Interior, which Phuket is unable to do on its own,” he added.

According to the PR Phuket report, “The second issue that the Russian Federation ambassador wants to inform the province is the request to build a thai boxing camp in Phuket, which the province says can be operated but must go through the process of obtaining permission from Phuket [officials] properly.”

The report did not clarify which boxing camp was to be established or where it is hoped to be set up.

It also did not clarify who was funding it, or why the Russian Ambassador was needed to be involved in the process of setting up the business.

In concluding its report of the meeting, PR Phuket, in Thailand language noted, “Another thing [that Russian Ambassador to Thailand Evgeny Tomikhin was in Phuket for] is to confirm the standpoint of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, that Russia has tried to negotiate but because the agreement did not work, causing problems this time.”

Mr Tomikhin has already given this explanation in a public statement issued on Saturday, repeating the same mantra from the Russian government. ( See “West’s unkept promises the problem, not Russia”, click here.)

Present at the meeting with Ambassador Tomikhin was Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, President of the Phuket Tourist Association.

Russians were the top tourism source market demographic to come to Phuket since the Sandbox and Test & Go entry schemes were launched, totalling some 50,000 arrivals, Mr Bhummikitti said.

“We are still seeing quite a large number of Russian tourists booked to travel [to Phuket], including planes arriving from many cities in Russia. There has been a lot of reaction in terms of tourism, but no impact yet, so I urge people not to worry about it,” he said.

Mr Tomikhin’s visit to Phuket yesterday, previously unannounced before his arrival, came on the same day that scores of Russians and Ukrainaians in Phuket gathered in front of the Russian Consulate in Phuket to protest for peace and call for Russia to end the war in Ukraine.