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For the last three years I've been living in a very pretty seaside resort town in Vietnam called Nha Trang. In just the last year it's seen a massive influx of

For the last three years I've been living in a very pretty seaside resort town in Vietnam called Nha Trang. In just the last year it's seen a massive influx of Russian tourists and it's completely changed the vibe of the place. They're everywhere now, usually with a scowl on their face and usually dealing with people in a manner that would be considered very brusque and impolite anywhere in the West. Nobody seems to like the Russian tourists, including the Vietnamese, but they bring a lot of money into the local economy so they get the red carpet treatment all the same. But Western tourists are becoming increasingly scarce as word gets out that Nha Trang is not the easygoing friendly place it used to be.

ivan78 13y ago
You should not judge about all Russians by those tourists. Unfortunately, during last 20 years in Russia, being such scoundrel and scumbag, you have pretty high chance to earn good money. Even in Russia nobody likes these (very small number of) people and wants to travel to the resort where there are no "damned Russian tourists". :-)
kosoy 13y ago
Yeah, we hate them too (and I'm Russian). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ When we go on vacation, we try to choose a hotel with less Russians (fluent English helps, since not a lot of my countrymen are comfortable with it yet). Still, somehow EVERY time there's this irritating-lady-with-unbelievably-loud-whiny-child or that always-drunk-and-very-loud-about-it middle-aged man, they always turn out to be our countrymen. That's not EVERY Russian tourist, mind you, not even a majority of us, but the reverse is, sadly, true - most of those unbearable people are Russian. Those tourists are kind of like piracy (naval piracy, not digital): due to a very particular mix of historical coincidences, a group of incredibly pronounced jerks have gained considerable power and now they're everywhere. Thing is - those tourists you see everywhere are people of VERY PARTICULAR social and financial standing. In short - they are most likely new to that kind of money (vast majority of Russians don't have enough to go on vacation abroad), they are VERY insecure about it (as in - need to prove, mostly to themselves, that it's not temporary), they're under a lot of pressure (because they're not actually sure why it's THEM getting decent money and not everyone around and because there's a lot of competitors) and they don't know how to handle themselves (once again - they're pretty new to this). Let's just hope that, like pirates, they will soon become extinct. And for now, on behalf of Russian people at large - we're sorry.
- cageface 13y ago
  All the Viet business people I've talked to said that when they present these tourists with a menu or a shelf full of goods all they want to do is identify the most expensive option so they can choose it to show off their money. So they fit your description pretty well.

ivan78 13y ago

You should not judge about all Russians by those tourists. Unfortunately, during last 20 years in Russia, being such scoundrel and scumbag, you have pretty high chance to earn good money. Even in Russia nobody likes these (very small number of) people and wants to travel to the resort where there are no "damned Russian tourists". :-)

kosoy 13y ago

Yeah, we hate them too (and I'm Russian). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ When we go on vacation, we try to choose a hotel with less Russians (fluent English helps, since not a lot of my countrymen are comfortable with it yet). Still, somehow EVERY time there's this irritating-lady-with-unbelievably-loud-whiny-child or that always-drunk-and-very-loud-about-it middle-aged man, they always turn out to be our countrymen. That's not EVERY Russian tourist, mind you, not even a majority of us, but the reverse is, sadly, true - most of those unbearable people are Russian. Those tourists are kind of like piracy (naval piracy, not digital): due to a very particular mix of historical coincidences, a group of incredibly pronounced jerks have gained considerable power and now they're everywhere. Thing is - those tourists you see everywhere are people of VERY PARTICULAR social and financial standing. In short - they are most likely new to that kind of money (vast majority of Russians don't have enough to go on vacation abroad), they are VERY insecure about it (as in - need to prove, mostly to themselves, that it's not temporary), they're under a lot of pressure (because they're not actually sure why it's THEM getting decent money and not everyone around and because there's a lot of competitors) and they don't know how to handle themselves (once again - they're pretty new to this). Let's just hope that, like pirates, they will soon become extinct. And for now, on behalf of Russian people at large - we're sorry.

cageface 13y ago
All the Viet business people I've talked to said that when they present these tourists with a menu or a shelf full of goods all they want to do is identify the most expensive option so they can choose it to show off their money. So they fit your description pretty well.