As tensions simmer between Russians and Ukrainians living in Thailand, Bangkok's efforts to appease Moscow and encourage tourism from Russia have failed to win Vladimir Putin's attendance at the APEC summit.
"We go to Phuket every year or two, so why should it be different this year?" asked Yulia, a Russian national arriving in Bangkok. The Thai government reckons that 1 million Russian tourists will have visited the country by the end of the year, but Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, will not be one of them.
He had been expected to arrive in Bangkok yesterday to attend a regional summit but he pulled out last week, citing a busy work schedule. Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov arrived in Bangkok on Thursday in his place for this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
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