After saying goodbye to Bam and Mr Nung at Chiang Rai airport, we’ve flown south via Bangkok to Phuket, and it’s immediately obvious things have changed. Having immersed ourselves in Thai culture for the past two weeks, the difference in travellers at the connecting gate in Bangkok signifies we’re leaving the glories of ancient civilisations behind and are firmly into package holiday territory. 

It’s dark by the time our taxi leaves Phuket’s airport and as we drive to our hotel in Kamala Beach on the western side of the island there’s a feeling of mild culture shock. Our journey takes us via the resorts of Bang Tao and Surin and at night-time it’s quite an onslaught of cheap shops, tacky restaurants, neon signs, huge hotels and lobster-coloured tourists. We knew Phuket has a party reputation but it’s so different from northern Thailand it’s almost like we’ve landed in Magaluf.

However, our little hotel is a family-run establishment called the Layalina, and despite being hidden down an unpromising alleyway it’s a quiet and charming place that we enjoy calling home for the next four nights. In addition to the beachfront breakfast area, large bedroom and balcony, where we hang a hammock and gaze out on the little pool, we also have our very own roof terrace, accessed by a spiral staircase, which proves ideal for daily yoga sessions looking out over palm trees, the beach and the endless waters of the Andaman Sea. 

Dumping our bags we head out on to the main road to find somewhere to have a late dinner, and are a bit taken aback by what seems to be a population of scooter-driving wide boys, surgically-enhanced would-be influencers and tipsy retirees on cheap holidays drinking at sports bars. There’s also a distinct lack of anywhere that serves vegetarian dishes, with everything being focussed completely on meat and fish. Even the stir-fried vegetables are in oyster sauce. 

Finally we find an Indian restaurant with a full range of options, next to a tailor’s shop offering cheap suits - most likely for half the tourists’ next court appearances - and have a delicious meal that restores our equilibrium and we head to bed ready to enjoy our time in Phuket. 

As we’ve learned many times, first impressions are often wrong and the next morning as we wander along the curving sands of Kamala Beach we start to get seduced by the tropical vibes of the place. There are coconut trees and little market stalls, aquamarine seas and beach-shack bars, alongside the rows of sun loungers and parasols.

It’s not a bad spot to spend a few days, especially as it’s very hot and humid, and so we start to chill out and relax, having a couple of nice dinners, some lazy afternoons and being entertained by a fire show on the beach one evening. We even bump into a journalist I know - Peter Hart and his partner Frankie - by random chance in the local 7/11, which is a lovely surprise.

But what we’re not expecting is the overwhelming amount of Russian holiday-makers everywhere. On our first afternoon we take a tuk-tuk from Kamala to Surin Beach, which is another beautiful expanse of sand and clear, warm tropical waters, and settle ourselves on a couple of sun loungers. Within just a few minutes it quickly becomes obvious that over 90% of everyone around us is Russian. The menus at the beach restaurants all have Russian translations and pretty much every tourist around us is speaking Russian. 

And back at Kamala Beach that evening we discover the same thing. We hear the occasional German, Dutch, Spanish or Italian accents, a handful of English and Americans, but the vast majority of all the tourists are Russian. Seated in restaurants, lying on the beach, wandering through the shops it could be Moscow or St Petersburg except the surroundings are distinctly Thai.

It’s quite unexpected and not a little disconcerting. After all, we’re all technically at war with one another and yet here we are amongst happy Russian families having a lovely time on holiday. 

It transpires that the Thai government changed its rules for Russians recently, allowing them to stay in Thailand for three months at a time without a visa, opening up a range of direct flights from Russian airports to Phuket and allowing them to buy property on the island. As a result over a million Russians have visited Phuket in the last 12 months, lots of them on package holidays with many of them are now settling here. And that number is expected to double in 2025 as up to 60% of all property sales on the island are now to rich Russians. 

And with the rouble no longer welcome in Europe, any thought that sanctions are biting the country seems highly unlikely. The Russian holidaymakers on Phuket are pumped full of Botox and lip filler, sporting designer brands, drinking at the champagne bars on the beach, partying in Cafe Del Mar and staying at the likes of the Intercontinental, Hyatt and Novotel. So much for large corporations standing with Ukraine; they’re all happy to take the rouble here it seems. 

As Sting once sang, Russians love their children too and while ordinary families have very little choice in the political circumstances they are subject to, they still want to head off on holiday. So it’s no surprise Thailand has taken advantage of their desire to escape harsh winters and opened itself up for their business, as Phuket is all about making money in whatever way it can… as we discover the next day in the notorious area of Patong.