Phuket Airport has continued to welcome a high volume of international arrivals, with a total of 184,762 foreign visitors entering the country via the airport from March 1 to March 15, according to a graphic released on Phuket Immigration’s Facebook page.
Among these visitors, Russian nationals continue to make up the largest group, with 47,525 arrivals during the two-week period. In comparison, between November 1 – December 31, 2022, 167,698 Russian citizens arrived in Phuket, an average of nearly 42,000 over a similar half-month period.
So the number of Russian arrivals in Phuket continues to be on the increase, averaging nearly 3,200 passengers per day.
Chinese nationals have zoomed into the Top 5 most numerous arrivals into Phuket with passengers coming through the immigration turnstiles. Indian nationals placed third with 14,320 arrivals, consistent with their arrival numbers over the past 4 months. Kazakhstan and Germany rounded out the top five with 9,703 and 9,602 arrivals.
Phuket Immigration March 1-15
In addition to air travel, Phuket has also seen an influx of foreign visitors arriving by sea, principally on cruise ships returning for visits into Patong Bay. The report says that 16,035 foreign visitors were cleared to enter Thailand via Phuket during the same period, with 8 cruise liners and 31 private yachts arriving.
The top five nationalities of marine traffic arrivals were Indonesians, Malaysians, US, UK and Singaporeans.
The influx of Russians and some Ukrainians into Thailand is despite Ukraine having banned all men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country. Russia has no official blanket ban, but has recently mobilised 300,000 reservists to join the war on Ukraine soil, prompting many young men to flee abroad rather than be drafted.
SOURCE: Phuket Immigration
