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As the title of this video suggests, we are asking the question, could Prime Minister Anutin and President Putin of Russia be discussing extradition matters in an upcoming event involving ASEAN which Russia is apparently, or I should say envoys of Russia are apparently attending; I think the thing is in Russia if I'm not mistaken. That being said, the ASEAN meet isn't exactly what we're getting into.

I initially thought of making this video after reading a recent posting on X, formerly Twitter, from Khaosod English, that is @KhaosodEnglish on X. Quoting directly: "Russia warned its citizens Friday to avoid travelling to Thailand, citing the risk of arrest at Washington's request -- a move Thailand's Foreign Ministry swiftly pushed back on, insisting the country is safe and welcoming for all visitors." Quoting further: "The advisory followed the Court appearance in the United States of suspected Russian hacker Denis Obrezko, who was arrested in Thailand last November. Russia's Ministry attributed the international targeting of its citizens to sweeping U.S. sanctions imposed since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago. Thailand and the United States share a bilateral extradition treaty. Thailand's Foreign Ministry responded on Sunday through acting Direct-General of the Department of Information and Deputy Spokesperson Panidol Patchisawat, who said that Thai Russian relations remain strong at all levels and noted the two countries will mark 130 years of diplomatic ties in 2027. Thailand welcome nearly 1.9 million Russian tourists in 2025 -- the largest number from any European country -- and remains open to visitors of all nationalities, Panidol said. "Thailand is a welcoming and safe country for all tourists regardless of nationality," the spokesperson said, adding that all visitors are expected to abide by Thai law and that enforcement is carried out without discrimination. The Association of Tour Operators of Russia told State media that Russian tour operators have not encountered arrests while vacationing in Thailand though it advised those aware of potential legal exposure to heed the Ministry’ guidance."

So it is kind of interesting here. I remember actually following the old, it was called The Lord Of War case; I made a video - Viktor Bout was his name - and Lord of War came up because the movie with Nicholas Cage, which I rather liked that movie, is called Lord of War, and it was apparently loosely based on Viktor Bout, some say it was like heavily based on him. From what I've read, he is sort of an amalgam. Viktor Bout was actually arrested here in Thailand, there was all kinds of extradition proceedings, he ended up being effectively extradited to the United States, although procedurally it was kind of an odd set of circumstances. I'll try to put links in the description below. I blogged on this and I mean written blogs back in like the 2009's, '10s or '11s somewhere in there, maybe 12. I kept a pretty close eye on this stuff, so when I saw that thing pop up on my Twitter feed I was sitting there thinking, "well this is something I've actually got some depth of knowledge on" and then on top of it, there was a recent article in the print edition - we will go ahead and throw this up on screen - the print edition of Bangkok Post under the title: PM set for ASEAN-Russia meet. Quoting directly: "Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul will travel to Kazan, Russia," - yeah apparently this ASEAN meet is in Kazan, Russia" - on June 17-18 to attend the ASEAN-Russia Commemorative Summit, where Thailand aims to expand cooperation in trade, investment, energy and other economic sectors under its economic diplomacy policy." Quoting further: "During the visit, Mr. Anutin is scheduled to attend leaders' meetings, engage with Asean-Russia business representatives, and hold discussions with ASEAN leaders, Russian President Vladimir Putin and leading executives to advance economic cooperation." 

So it stands to reason, at least briefly, Mr. Putin and Mr. Anutin will probably have some exchange of dialogue, remains to be seen exactly what. In light of the fact, I saw that recent - I think that warning is a little odd. I have got to be honest. There is no grand conspiracy here in Thailand, to my mind, to sort of - I keep thinking of that scene from the movie Old School where they are gathering up all the pledges, like they are going to tackle people in the streets and extradite them back to the United States. 

That said, there is a history of extradition back to the United States of certain Russian nationals, so I do get the concerns perhaps or maybe just going through the motions of noting their concerns on the issue. During this meeting it's hard to say what they'll talk about, but I would be curious to be a fly on the wall during this upcoming meeting, especially in light of all the geopolitical events that we've seen transpire this last year. But whether or not extradition explicitly comes up on the menu remains to be seen. That said, we will certainly be keeping folks updated on this channel as the situation evolves.