Russian tourists are visiting Thailand in record numbers, with data showing that monthly arrivals doubled in November and increased by almost seven times over September, greatly exceeding increases in other nations in the lead-up to the busiest travel season.

With 1.75 million visitors in November, Thailand, one of the most popular travel destinations in Asia, experienced a much-needed tourism boom. This is a quadrupling the number of visitors the country saw throughout the entire previous year when the pandemic restricted flights and foreign arrivals.

According to official data, since Thailand eliminated the final relic of its stringent COVID-19 entrance regulations in July to restore its crippled tourism industry, arrivals from Russia have increased at a quicker rate than those from any other country, including those coming from low bases.

Before the epidemic, Russia ranked as the seventh-largest source of tourists for Thailand in 2019 (1.48 million travelers), but monthly in November (108,985 arrivals, up from 44,314 in October and 15,900 in September), it was third behind Malaysia and India.

In contrast, visitors from Malaysia continuously decreased from September's 332,493 to November's 258,873 while those from India increased gradually each month from September's 116,386 to November's 145,628.

About 60% more Russian visitors arrived in November than in the same month in 2019.

After the turmoil in Ukraine, the Russian market has returned this year, according to Stuart Reading, vice CEO of Laguna Resorts and Hotels.

He claimed that both the strengthening of the rouble against the Thai baht and the hiring of certain Russian-speaking workers by his company had been beneficial.

One of the major currencies with the strongest performance this year against the dollar has been the rouble.

According to Reading, Russian visitors typically remain for seven to ten nights, whereas "snowbirds" fleeing their country's hard winter could stay for up to three months.

According to Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Phuket is a popular travel destination for Russians, who make up nearly a quarter of the island's visitors. This is made possible by direct flights between Bangkok and Phuket (TAT).

Russian families are renting properties and prolonging their vacations from 16 days to a few months, according to Bhummikitti Ruktaengam, the advisory chairman of Phuket's Tourist Association.

Along with locals, Russian families can be seen wandering across the park in the evening, he added, adding that some were staying until March.

According to the TAT, the total number of arrivals could surpass 11.5 million by the end of the year, which would be less than one-fourth of the record-breaking number of over 40 million in 2019 who spent roughly 1.91 trillion baht ($55.17 billion).