“They steal our jobs!” – with such an accusation against the Russians, primarily against the so-called resettlers, Phuket businessmen appealed to the local authorities. The problem should be officially reported to the government — and then law enforcement agencies will be involved in the case, which will allow local people to track down illegals and hand them over to the police. Such information was presented to the Phuket Information Center, which was the first to raise the alarm, accusing primarily Russian “relocants”, that is, Russians who fled to Thailand from mobilization, of illegal work.
Specialists of the center officially declared: Russian “long-term” tourists are engaged in business in Phuket, and most often illegal. The Thais were urged to report the facts about the illegal work of the Russians — and the appeal received a flurry of comments. First of all, Russian illegals work in the field of car rental business – drivers, rental services, and transfer services to and from the airport. “I saw how Russians worked as drivers on a tour of Phuket. They also offered airport delivery and car rental service”, and “I saw many Russian taxi drivers picking up customers from my restaurant”, – these are typical complaints written by Thais. They also discovered Russian “singers and musicians” in bars. But there are also those who “penetrate” the business more seriously, for example, in the construction business.
However, everyone is outraged. “Do they have a work permit? They are stealing jobs from Thais! – Exclaims the indignant public. And despite everything, her calls will not go unanswered. “We, together with the Phuket Tourist Police, will solve this problem,” the center’s experts assured. They also said that they plan to report the problem to the Government Complaints Center at the Prime Minister’s Office shortly.
A funny detail: previously, the well-known “Chinese mafia”, which was fought on the island in the pre-war years, caused approximately the same trouble to Thais. In particular, there is a conflict over Chinese restaurants and hotels on Yaowarat Street, which were owned by Chinese citizens and, accordingly, did not bring anything to Thailand and Phuket. And it must be said, they were more or less successfully fought: entrepreneurs were detained, and questioned about permits and business rights. As a result, it even led to the arrest of some owners and workers of Chinese restaurants. So much less organized Russian “relocants” are threatened by bad times.