Wealthy Russians Flock to Thailand: Money Flows to Phuket, Reshaping Island

Russian businessman Alexander Nakhapetov has been a regular at the “banyas” in his adopted home of Phuket ever since several of the traditional steam baths opened last year.

Lately, though, the 41-year-old’s routine has been disrupted by an influx of his countrymen to Thailand’s biggest island — which has resulted in those new bathhouses being booked out much of the time.