Tourism school helps stranded Russians and Ukrainians in Koh Samui

A tourism school is helping stranded Russians and Ukrainians in Koh Samui stay in a hotel for about 4,000 baht a month. This is for up to 30 rooms at a hotel on Chaweng beach. Many Ukrainians can’t return home due to the violence from Russia’s invasion, while many Russians’ flights home have been canceled. Many Russians also can’t access funds now that Mastercard and Visa have sanctioned cards issued in Russia.

The Koh Samui chief district officer also called for a meeting with the Red Cross to launch a campaign supporting people stranded. One Koh Samui villa owner also cut his accommodation fee by 50% for a Ukrainian couple unable to return home because of violence. The couple only intended to stay on the island for a week but have since stayed in the villa for two weeks.

The Samui district office says there are about 3,000 Russian tourists stuck on Samui, Pha-ngan and Tao islands. It is not reported how many Ukrainian tourists there are in these areas. There are currently over 7,000 Russian and Ukrainian tourists altogether across Thailand, 5,000 of them on Phuket. Russians made of the biggest group of tourists in Phuket in December, and over 17,000 of them arrived on the Island that month.

The tourism school helping accommodate those stranded in Koh Samui is the International School of Tourism at Surat Thani Rajabhat University.

SOURCE: Thai PBS World