Michael Batson

Over the last 20 years or so the numbers of Russians visiting Southeast Asia have gone from hardly any at all to a flood, and much like a flood have receded somewhat, but probably not for long. Russians now account for billions of dollars in tourism revenue in Southeast Asia and rank second after Chinese travellers in number. Thailand is by far their favourite destination, but they like other countries too, like Vietnam and Cambodia. Their Cyrillic alphabet is now plastered on sandwich boards and menus, and vendors in parts of the region have taken to learning some Russian words. The rest of us are having to get used to their peculiar dress sense, which seems to follow them the world over whether in Asia or not. One travel writer, writing on the influx of Russian tourists and accompanying sex workers to a cash-strapped Cyprus, said of Russians and their dress sense as; ‘easy to spot, thanks largely to a sartorial style originated by Englebert Humperdinck's costumier and watches the size of grapefruits.’ Throw in guys with pasty white skin, many overweight, in fake peaked sailor hats, loud polo shirts and overly tight football shorts often pulled high up around the waist, and you could be in Pattaya or Phuket. Generally, it must be said, Russians don’t seem to “do” casual dress well.During the Cold War Russian tourists were limited to Soviet-approved travel destinations like China, Turkey, Poland and Finland. Those countries once accounted for 80 percent of all