Main buyers: Russians fleeing Putin's war find a new home in Phuket.

The past year, he lived with his mother and siblings in Moscow and worked in IT in one of the city's skyscrapers. Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 changed everything. "At that moment I thought, 'OK, what options do I have here in Russia? Go to war, which of course I don't want to do, because Ukrainians are our brothers,'" he says. The alternative was futile protesting. "Fighting against the government in Russia is impossible," he says.

He went to the airport in Moscow with a couple thousand dollars in savings and a one-way ticket to Thailand, begging to be let through on immigration. He chose Phuket, he adds, because it was more affordable than renting in neighboring countries, where the recent influx of Russians has made it harder to find a place to stay.

Last year Russians were the leading foreign buyers of property in Phuket, and in the first quarter of this year sales to Russian nationals increased by 68% compared to the same period in 2022. The value of properties for sale also rose 46.7% in the first quarter, according to the Thailand Real Estate Association. Phattanan Phisutvimol, president of the Phuket Real Estate Association, recently said she expects 2023 to be a "golden year" for the island's real estate sector as it recovers from the pandemic and cited Russians as one of the groups driving demand. "Russians are my main clients," says real estate saleswoman Anna Baranova. Interest in luxury real estate is growing rapidly.