“Such rapid growth was due to the active work of Russian tour operators, especially in Siberia and the Far East, where a huge number of charter flights were arranged.

14 aircrafts arrived from Khabarovsk to Thailand in July”- said the official.

According to him, more than 578 thousand Russian tourists have visited Thailand for seven months this year, which is almost by 78% more than during the same period last year.

According to this indicator, Russia ranked first among European countries, having left Britain behind.

According to Thai statistics, one in five European tourists in the country is a Russian citizen. The total number of Russians in the worldwide tourist flow in Thailand for the first seven months is more than 5%.

The air is filled with a specific smell, and it is impossible to elbow to the trolleys with the new harvest.

Durian is a non grata fruit in many public places in Thailand.

Tourists often try to take it home as a souvenir, and it causes serious problems to them.

Special plates with a warning not to carry this fruit are installed in hotels and airports of the kingdom.

The aroma of peeled durian, having been in the packet for about an hour, is more like a stench that can not be eliminated.

Violators face a huge fine.

Despite the ban, 20-30 people with concealed fruit are caught daily in the international airport in Bangkok, AMI-TASS reported.

The price for durian in season is high.

So, a kilo of the popular cultivar Chantanaburi will cost $ 50.

The thing is, according to vendors, that this fruit requires delicate handling and should be harvested manually.

The citizens of Thailand is very jealous of overseas competitors, noting that you can try the most delicious and a real durian only in the kingdom.

The citizens of Thailand advise to try a fruit that was bought only from street stalls and, of course, peeled in your presence.

“Once they cut a thick, prickly rind and get a nutritious pulp that resembles pastry, start the meal – the gourmets advise. – Only in this case, you can catch the indescribable taste, combining notes of strawberries, cream and spices”

Doctors remind of a sense of proportion: “For once you should not eat more than one lobule, and in any case you should not wash down the fruit with alcohol”.

As reported on Thursday, June 2, by Associated Press, the ministry believes that making of tattoos by adherents of other religions is unethical.

According to the Minister of Culture of the country Niphit Intharasombat, his office receives the complaints from local residents who are unhappy with the fact that foreign tourists are making tattooes of the sacred image of Buddha not out of religious considerations, but following the fashion.

In addition, Intharasombat urged the artists worldwide to follow the abandonment of tattooing with Buddhist symbolism.

In Thailand, he appealed to the heads of provinces with a request to set a dialogue with the tattoo parlor.

According to Lenta.ru, Minister of Culture also intends to prohibit making of Buddhist tattoos by law.

Currently, application of religious images is not contrary to Thai law.

The population of Thailand, annually visited by millions of tourists from around the world, is mostly Buddhist. Images and statues of Buddha are sacred to Thais.

Meanwhile, the tattooes on religious themes are very popular among tourists in Thailand.

One such tattoo can cost more than 20,000 baht (about 660 dollars, or nearly 18,500 rubles).

Many vacationers treat them merely as a pretty picture without going into their sacramental sense, says RBC.

It turned out that in general, despite the riots in Bangkok, which had lasted for more than two months in March, April and May, the flow of tourists coming to the Land of Smiles was still quite high.

Thus, from January to May 2010 6,563,099 foreign tourists had visited Thailand, which is 16.07% higher than in the corresponding period last year.

According to TAT, with the beginning of the year, tourists have brought 240 billion baht (about 7.4 billion dollars) into the economy of Thailand. This is 20.26% higher than it was during the same period in 2009.

The current Top 5 Travel Thailand is Malaysia (770,804 tourists for the period January-May 2010), China (428,709 visitors), United Kingdom (352,586 visitors) and South Korea (335,648 visitors), followed by Russia (284,424 tourists) and India (277,393 tourists).

Meanwhile, some experts believe that the full restoration of the tourism industry in Thailand will require six months.

In particular, the deputy chairman of the Central Bank of Thailand Bandit Nichatavorn expressed such opinion.

He recalled that it took six months to restore tourist flow after the outbreak of avian flu in 2003 and the tsunami in December 2004.

After the capture of the so-called “yellow” demonstrators Suvannapum of the capital’s airport in late 2008, tourism industry recovered slightly longer – seven months.