Page 10 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL10

45 art galleries and 2,000 libraries. Perhaps that explains why Russia has the best population reading rate in the world. We have so many world bestsellers such as Tolstoy’s War and Peace. Those who love performing arts can be entertained with endless classical and modern theatre and music events. Saint Petersburg alone has over 50 concert halls. Russian ballet, like Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, is the most frequently staged of its kind in the world.As for when to go, it’s cold in Russia, but from May to September it’s warm and pleasant. It’s a definite place for a winter experience. You can experience minus-20 weather, breathe in frosty air, have snowball fights, then come back into a warm room, curl up near a fireplace and have a shot of vodka or a cup of hot tea. You will find so many attractive and exciting discoveries travelling in Russia.How popular is Thailand for Russians and vice versa?We love Thailand. Last year, 1,600,000 Russian tourists visited Thailand. This year, with our econom- ic recession and the higher cost of air tickets, the figure has decreased a bit. However, in Russia last year we had only 20,000 Thai tourists. I’m aware our country hasn’t been promoted enough as a tourist destination to Thai people and we are working on it.Is Russia planning to have an institute to promote Russian culture in Thailand, like the Alliance Francaise, British Council and Goethe Institute?Yes, we have planned to open a Russian cultural centre in Thailand. The idea was welcomed by PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and other Thai ministers at the meeting with Prime Minister Medvedev last April in Bangkok.But it will take some time to kick-start the process. Meanwhile, we have a Centre for Russian Studies called Russkiy Mir – literally translated as “Russian World” – at Chulalongkorn University now. There are over 60 such centres around the world. And Thammasat University is going to establish a Russia and CIS Studies Centre in cooperation with Nizhni Novgorod Linguistic University.Does the Russian government encourage Thais to study in Russia? Every year, our government provides 25 scholarships to Thai students. This year there are over 100 Thai students pursuing education in various fields in Russia. The number of Thai and Russian exchange students has increased but I believe there should be many more. Our political, trade, economic, tourism and cultural rela- tions are expanding, and we’ ll need8 Elite+