Rich Russians Isolated From the West Are Flocking to Thailand’s Phuket
From steam baths to concerts and villas, the island is luring tourists and real estate buyers. It even has a Russian consulate.
Russian businessman Alexander Nakhapetov has been a regular at the “banyas” in his adopted home of Phuket ever since several of the traditional steam baths opened last year.
Lately, though, the 41-year-old’s routine has been disrupted by an influx of his countrymen to Thailand’s biggest island — which has resulted in those new bathhouses being booked out much of the time.