🎙 Excerpt from Russia's Ambassador to Thailand Evgeny Tomikhin’s interview with RT about Russia-Thailand relations (February 2, 2026)

❓ Question: As global power dynamics continue to shift, how do you see Russia-Thailand relations evolving over the next few years, particularly in light of regional challenges and opportunities?

💬 Evgeny Tomikhin: The main focus is bilateral relations <...>. Relations between our two countries are developing normally, without any exceptions. We have quite regular political contacts. There is a plan of consultations between our Foreign Ministries, and there are many mechanisms of bilateral cooperation <...>. Over the last several years, our cultural exchanges have increased quite significantly — we had a number of big events here.

This year, we will realize one of the flagship projects under the Ministry of Culture of Russia, which is called #RussianSeasons. So there will be another big project in cultural exchanges. There will be more artists coming to Thailand, not only classical, but also representing folk arts and culture of different ethnic groups of Russia. Of course, there will be some exhibitions and movie festivals.

Last year, we marked another increase in bilateral trade — it was more than 10%. The total volume in 2025 was about 2 billion US dollars. We hope this trend will continue in 2026. One of the very important statistics for us is the number of Russian tourists in Thailand. Last year, it was another record — 1.9 million visitors, including more than 1 million in Phuket alone.

❓Question: What impact do you think this could have on Thai public perceptions of Russia?

💬 Evgeny Tomikhin: Historically, we have very positive relations, and I think the majority of the Thai people feel sympathy, as well as the majority of Russians. Not only those who travel to Thailand, but also historically and traditionally many Russians feel sympathy toward Thailand, Thai culture, and food.

We hope that the Russian Seasons, which is a big project approved personally by the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, will bring more opportunities to Thai friends to know more about Russia, stimulate them to be more interested in Russian culture, and to visit Russia personally.

🇷🇺🇹🇭 #RussiaThailand