No Russian tourists in Krabi Province who are unable to return to the country have called for assistance after the S7 airline stopped flying from Russia to Krabi.
On February 23, 2022, the inaugural flight of S7 Airlines Flight 5713 opened a route from Russia to Krabi again, with 164 passengers, and on March 2, 2022, there were 154 tourists. From the current war between Russia and Ukraine, it is expected that this conflict will affect Russian tourists traveling to Krabi Province. The S7 airline has now, unfortunately, stopped flying, which means at present some tourists are still stranded in the area, unable to return to Russia.
From the inquiry to the relevant agencies, the information that the Krabi Tourism Business Association have received via Google Form distributed to various establishments to compile a list of tourists, and the amount of assistance if requested by tourists in order to build confidence for this group of tourists to feel that they are not abandoned. So far, still, there have been no requests for assistance from Russian tourists.
Russian tourists are one of the15 popular tourist groups who come to travel in Krabi. Before the COVID-19 situation, there were 6 airlines operating direct flights from major Russian ports to Krabi province, a total of 63 flights, with a total of 50,382 Russian tourists traveling to Krabi.
Nevertheless, the war has started to take a toll on Thailand’s tourism market. Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya, the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) deputy governor for Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas, said that even though there had not been many cancellations from other European markets, there were few new bookings as people wanted to wait and see how the situation in Europe develops. There have been some cancellations from Poland and the Czech Republic, but these were not significant when compared with the wider European market. However, the assault has prompted the TAT to prepare a plan for future crises, particularly when things come to a halt, whether it be transactions or joint promotions with Russia-based destination management companies that have to wait until international flights return.
