Ukrainian woman threw a plate at Dana Borisova on vacation in Thailand

“On June 9, it turns out that they legalized the cultivation and use of cannabis, and Thailand became not the same: there are a lot of smoky people,” Dana began her story. – It is clear that with my charter I don’t climb into someone else’s monastery, especially since I myself wasn’t ideal and used it before, but in Thailand I fought endlessly and scandalized, especially when I used it while driving.

— And that was it?

— Of course, we faced it. In general, we had a lot of adventures. They started because of our dog, because we couldn’t fly from Moscow to Phuket. We were already checked in, the suitcase was taken away, and then it turned out that one more paper in Thai was missing. We were resolutely told that they would not put us on the flight. And then we decided to fly to Bangkok, because there this certificate was not needed. We thought that we would get to this city and then fly on local airlines: after all, 800 kilometers. But local airlines, as it turned out, do not transport without this certificate either, they do not take regular buses with pets. As a result, we traveled for three days by hitchhiking on the overhead. We flew to Bangkok and got into a taxi to Phuket. We thought that we went with a normal Thai taxi driver, but the horror began. At first, the driver promised that he would deliver in 9 hours, but it turned out that it was all unrealistic, then he indicated one amount, but in fact it turned out that it would be 10 times more expensive: almost 40 thousand rubles. We did not immediately realize that cannabis was already allowed in Thailand, but when he suddenly stopped on the highway in the middle of the night, turned off the lights and went to the tent, where a cannabis leaf was drawn on a cardboard and two ambals were neighing, we immediately understood everything and were very scared. Well, imagine: I am alone with my teenage daughter, with the dog Michelle, in the bag are all the cards, documents and money. At the same time, the track is completely empty. We have, of course, lived through terrifying moments.

And how did you survive in this difficult situation?

– He drank something along the way, gradually began to behave inappropriately: overtook, cut, sang songs. Here you have to be a fool not to understand what is happening to him. Polina’s daughter had such a look! She said, “I was afraid that we would be killed and raped.” We realized that we had to run. We succeeded because we eventually deceived him. They said that we wanted to spend the night in a hotel, we didn’t feel well, asked to find a roadside hotel: they say, we’ll spend the night there, we’ll also pay for his room, and then we’ll all go further in the morning. He agreed. We somehow found a motel where there were some houses and, most importantly, cars were parked – that means people are sleeping. After receiving the keys to the room, we went to the parking lot, snatched the suitcases from him and ran away. I started screaming, “Help!” We closed in the room, he guarded us until the morning, but then he could not stand it and left. We left in horror.

How was your journey afterwards?

We just voted on the road. At first, one monk drove us in a trunk under the scorching sun for about an hour, and then we were lucky: a couple stopped – an American with a Thai woman, we drove with them for another seven hours, they were pleasant, decent people. Well, we gave them money, although they refused, of course, saying that they wanted to do a good deed. In the end, we decided not to go to Phuket, but to go to Koh Samui, where I was in rehabilitation for 8 months. I knew this place well, there are hotels where you can live with pets. In terms of price, Koh Samui is quite a bit cheaper than Phuket, which has become more expensive due to the fact that direct flights fly there and hotels are clogged with Russians. We found a good hotel.

– And then you exhaled and brightly celebrated the New Year …

– I haven’t even told anyone how we celebrated the New Year, because it’s hard to believe that so much can fall on one person. It was an unforgettable New Year. Our hotel was in a rather fashionable area with good restaurants. Already on Catholic Christmas, many foreigners arrived there, who booked tables for New Year’s Eve, and we thought that we would celebrate the holiday surrounded by a decent audience. But they are Thai! On December 31 at 21 o’clock it rained, after which the electricity went out. And in Thailand, the service sector is tied to it. Food, communication, the Internet, refrigerators, air conditioners, restaurants – everything depends on electricity. And these poor foreigners prayed that at least by 12 at night it would all be turned on. Everyone walked with flashlights from smartphones, the electricity was not repaired by midnight, but only at 9 am on January 1. Not a single restaurant, not a single store was open. This is how we had New Year’s Eve: we were lying in our beds at midnight, hungry, sweaty, without air conditioners. Polina told me all New Year’s Eve that she wanted to eat. At one in the morning: “Mom, I want Olivier so much!” We couldn’t call anyone. I had such plans this year: not to unsubscribe in WhatsApp with postcards, but to call all relatives, friends, chat. What is there! Don’t call, don’t post a photo on a social network, don’t congratulate your own mom. Imagine that she did not even know where we suddenly disappeared on New Year’s Eve! We didn’t even congratulate her! By the way, there was a difference in the perception of what was happening in comparison with foreigners. It’s like with us: if a situation arises for a Russian person that there is no money and nothing to eat, he will react normally to this, we are no strangers. And foreigners, if they paid an expensive reservation, were very unhappy. All their crabs, lobsters and lobsters were rotten, they were hungry all night long, threatening courts in a rage. And even when they gave electricity at 9 in the morning, we went to a restaurant, we were told that nothing was ready, we had to wait for a new delivery. We only ate at around 2pm. That is, for more than 12 hours we were completely hungry. We don’t need a New Year like this anymore.

Is this some kind of trend that has emerged in Thailand: has the service sector begun to suffer?

– Well, you see, these Thais – they are carefree, relaxed. They may even have forgotten that people are hungry.

– And as for the prices, have they increased a lot?

– The prices are normal, so we even decided to change tickets and stay not for two weeks, but for three. It’s just that a day of living in Moscow costs more at home than there. For example, we lived in a good hotel, during the day we could eat in an inexpensive cafe, and in the evening in a good restaurant, plus massage every day. And all this cost an average of 3500-4000 rubles, and in Moscow living per day costs us an average of 5000 per day. We also went on excursions to the waterfalls, made a cool photo shoot.

What are the current political moods in Thailand? Have you seen any negative attitude towards the Russians?

– The only manifestation of negativity was an attack on the part of a Ukrainian woman who came with a child. She threw a plate at us during breakfast when we started chatting with her daughter. And Polya still says to me: “It’s strange, she speaks Russian, why is she so unhappy?” But otherwise, we did not feel negative. Polina and I found it more interesting to communicate with foreigners – we improved our English. I had a friend from the UK there with whom I practiced the language. We talked a lot, and I explained the political situation to her. We talked about the fact that in the UK this year will be a very difficult situation. In principle, this is an expensive country, and because of all these sanctions, people can even freeze from the cold. In our hotel, the owners were French, so I went out in the morning, conducted political information (laughs), explained how everything really is. I can say that as soon as the special operation began, I immediately took a certain position for myself. I think that the Russian government is doing everything right, and I do not hide this position.