BANGKOK, March 15. /TASS/. A polling station on the territory of the Russian Consulate General in Thailand’s Phuket province has opened its doors, becoming the first Russian polling station abroad to begin the vote to elect the next president of Russia.

The vote will continue for three days, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. local time.

"During the 2018 presidential election, we held a one-day vote, and it was not enough to accommodate everyone willing to cast the ballot. Around 3,000 people came back then. As a result, it was decided that the next vote should span over three days to help as many Russian citizens as possible <…> to exercise their right to vote," Russian Consul General in Phiket Vladimir Sosnov told TASS.

In his words, around 9,800 Russians currently reside in Phuket on long-term visas.

Field voting will also be organized on the resort island of Samui on Friday and in the popular tourist destination of Pattaya on Saturday.

In the Thai capital of Bangkok, the voting will be organized on the premises of the Russian embassy in Thailand on March 17.

The Russian Federation Council, or upper house of parliament, officially designated March 17, 2024 as the date of the presidential election. The Central Election Commission (CEC) then announced that voting will take place over three days on March 15-17.