Russians have flooded the famous Asian resort: the number of villas sold breaks records.

The resort island of Phuket in Thailand has registered a record number of villa sales, with Russians being the most active buyers. This is reported by Bloomberg.

In the first half of 2024, 1285 new villas worth a total of $1.1 billion were offered on the island. This figure exceeded the previous record for villa sales set in 2023, which stood at 1108 units.

Phuket attracts luxury property buyers due to its beaches and unforgettable nightlife. Villa prices start at $580,000 and can reach up to $31 million. New projects are actively being built on the island by companies such as Origin Property Pcl, Central Pattana Pcl, and Raimon Land Pcl, with their projects being two-to-three-bedroom villas.

Most villa buyers in Phuket are people who intend to live in the properties rather than invest. Phuket's real estate market, according to Fattharachai Thavivong, director of the research firm Colliers, will remain stable in the second half of the year despite political changes in the country.

We should note that a recent incident put Phuket in the spotlight. Two men were arrested for damaging buses carrying Russian tourists.

Thailand is hoping to welcome 1.2 million Russian tourists this year, despite many countries around the world imposing entry restrictions on citizens of the aggressor country. Since the beginning of the year, 856,000 Russians have already arrived in the country. This was stated by Kkanittha Phanworawat, Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) office in Russia. According to her, in the first half of the year, tourist flow already exceeded the figures of 2019, when Thailand received almost 1.5 million tourists.