Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted a significant increase of the tourists flow from Russia to Thailand, the indicators may soon reach a record level. "Speaking of tourism, we are pleased to note that this year in the first five months the number of Russians who have visited Thailand has increased by 37%", - Lavrov said after meeting with Thailand's Foreign Minister Don Pramavinay.

Noting the fact that Thailand in the eyes of the Russian tourist is increasingly becoming an all-season destination, the tour operators this summer are confirming a change in the geography of demand. In these summer months noticeable decline is shown by only Phuket resorts.

“The tourist flow from Russia to Thailand can amount 1.5 million people this year, exceeding the pre-crisis indicators”, - said Executive Director of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR) Maya Lomidze. "Among Russians Asian countries are in great demand and, according to preliminary estimates, Thailand can reach the number of 1.5 million tourists from Russia, which is a very good indicator, because before the crisis in 2014 there were about 1 million.

According to the results of the first quarter of 2017, Thailand was visited by almost 489 thousand tourists from Russia. Thus, the Russians took the third place in the list of fans of Thai resorts. These data are based on the statistics of the Immigration Bureau of the country, which monitors the passage of foreigners through the border control points.

“In 2016 Phuket was visited by in 1.5 times more Russian tourists, than a year earlier”, - reports Phuket Gazette with reference to the study of the expert group C9 Hotelworks. The Russian flow to Phuket increased by 51% for the year. According to the publication, more than 50% of all tourists, arriving the country from Russia are heading to Phuket.

“Airline company Thai Airways resumed flights from the capital airport "Domodedovo" to airport of Bangkok Suwanabhumi International on Thursday”, - reported the correspondent of the portal "Interfax-Tourism". The company will fly to Moscow four times a week. "We have returned back on the route with a frequency of four flights per week.

“Thailand in October 2016 was visited by 90,8 thousand Russian tourists, which is 30.3% higher than a year earlier”, - according to statistics published on the website of the Thailand Ministry of Tourism and Sports. If in October a year earlier, the country was visited by 69.7 thousand Russians, this year their number reached 90.8 thousand.

The number of Russian tourists visiting this country becomes more and more higher, but their spending have decreased. “During 10 months of 2016 Russians spent in Thailand 64.3 billion baht ($ 1.8 billion)”, - said the Thailand Tourist Department on Friday November 25. It should be noted, that for the period from January to October the spending of the Russian tourist have amounted the number comparable with the level of expenditure of 2015 (68.7 billion baht or 1.96 billion dollars).

This winter Thailand can become a major destination for Russian tourists, who will celebrate the New Year abroad. 28% of all NY oversea tours were sold to the resorts of this country. This is an evidenced of statistics based on data of Level.Travel service, which is selling online tours of more than 20 tour operators to 35 countries and with departing from 46 Russian cities.

“Thailand's Cabinet of Ministers approved an increase of the number of flights between Russia and Thailand in order to increase the tourist flow”, - the newspaper Bangkok Post reported. The number of flights of Russian airlines to Bangkok can now be increased from 70 to 105 per week and flights to Phuket - up to 56 flights a week.

Following the results by the end of the first week of November, Thailand is the leader in sales of New Year tours. This follows from the data provided by the travel agencies networks to the professional portal “TourDom.ru”. It may be noted, that a year earlier, in November 2015, the majority of retailers named Russia as the most popular destination for New Year's date.

“The airline company S7 started direct regular flights on the route Vladivostok - Bangkok – Vladivostok”, - said the press-service of "Vladivostok international airport" on Tuesday. The flights are implemented by Boeing-767 with 240 seats, once a week on Mondays, flight time is 7 hours. "Up to this day, the residents of Far East can fly to Thailand only by charter flights or scheduled flights with connection in the hubs of China, Korea and Japan. Since the beginning of regular non-stop flights from Vladivostok to Bangkok, the opportunity to direct travel to the capital of Thailand is appeared", - said the head of the commercial office of the airport Alexander Bobrov. In 2015 the passenger flow of Vladivostok airport decreased by 5% in comparison with 2014 - up to 1 million 698 thousand people.

According to the portal "Rambler - Travel", the first orders for the New Year holidays are divided between Thailand, Vietnam, UAE and Andorra. Minimum price of sea tour for 8 days will amount 110 thousand rubles (Pattaya, 3-stars), and to the ski resort - 97 thousand rubles (Andorra, 2 - stars).

Russia and Thailand have seen reciprocal growth of tourist flows this year, the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism (Rosturism) said on Wednesday after a meeting between the agency’s chief Oleg Safonov and Thai Minister of Tourism and Sports Mrs. Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul.

Ural Airlines is named a scheduled carrier on several routes between the cities of Russia and Thailand, according to the reports the Federal Air Transportation Agency. Thus, the carrier will fly 5 times a week from Ekaterinburg to Phuket, 3 times a week also from Ekaterinburg to Phuket through Beijing (with the possibility to take in and out additional passengers). Besides, Ural Airlines will regularly fly to Bangkok: up to 5 times a week from Irkutsk, three times a week from Khabarovsk, and seven times a week from Yekaterinburg.

THAI AIRWAYS International plans to resume flying to Russia and the United States as part of its plan to boost revenue after seeing cheerful results in the final quarter of last year. The national airline will also help its budget carrier Nok Air, which has called mass cancellations of flights while sorting out internal problems. THAI president Charamporn Jotikasthira said yesterday that the company has no plan to sell its stake in Nok Air, despite the issues besetting the budget airline. Moscow will be added back to the schedule in October - the beginning of the high season for Thailand's tourism industry.

Starting from December 2015, Thailand plans to issue multiple entry tourist visas for a period of six months or a year, the publication of Asia One said referring to the statement of the new Minister of Tourism of the country. Today, Russian citizens do not need visas to Thailand, if the visit is for the tourism purposes and stay in the country lasts not more than 30 days. For longer visits travelers need to get a visa in a Thai consulate in Russia.

State Airport Company of Thailand plans to run a free shuttle bus from the airport to the popular beaches of Phuket, the web site "News of Phuket" said on Friday. It is expected that passengers will be free to use the bus service by presenting a valid boarding pass for the plane. Recently three routes for the shuttle service are developed. The first one will connect the airport and Bang Tao, Kamala, Patong and Karon. The second shuttle will go through Bang Ku, Chalong and Rawai, the third - through Bang Ku, Phuket Town and Sapa Hin.

The high season in Thailand is almost over, and although there are at least two months ahead, DMC’s already consider the season as one of the most difficult in their history. The thing is that not only the tourists’ flow, but also the purchasing power of tourists have decreased because of devaluation of the ruble. It was especially noted in Pattaya, traditionally attractive for budget travelers.

Thailand expects the inflow of Russian tourists to increase over the current year, reports the Head of the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT), Mr. Tawatchai Arunyik. According to his data, the Russian market showed a downturn last year: the country had been visited by 1.6 million Russian tourists, which is an 8% year-on-year drop. "Despite economic problems in Russia, we are going to continue our promotional activities without changes.

Azur Air has announced the expansion of its route network in the 2019/2020 autumn-winter schedule, including from Russian regions. The carrier will also increase the intensity of flights to its traditional destinations.