Russian President Putin takes centre-stage at Madame Tussauds Bangkok
Bangkok – Joining the great and the good at Madame Tussauds Bangkok will be a wax figure of powerful Russian President Vladimir Putin, who first visited Thailand in person in 2003. The striking likeness will be unveiled on December 6.
President Putin was originally president of Russia from 2000 to 2008 and returned to the leadership pinnacle in May this year after serving as the country’s prime minister from 2008 to 2012. He was previously prime minister from 1999 to 2000.
Known as an action man, President Putin is a judo expert and fitness fanatic, and is a youthful 60-year-old. Born in 1952 in the city of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) he is quoted as saying: “I come from an ordinary family, and this is how I lived for a long time, nearly my whole life. I lived as an average, normal person and I have always maintained that connection,” Mr Putin recalls.
For more than 16 years President Putin was an officer in the KGB security service and on his retirement from active duty he became a politician in his native Saint Petersburg, later moving to Moscow where he joined then President Boris Yeltsin’s administration. He rose quickly through the ranks and when Yeltsin resigned in 1999 Putin was made Acting President.
The wax figure of President Putin will be introduced to the Leaders section at Madame Tussauds Bangkok and he will rub shoulders with famous people such as Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Myanmar’s Aung Sang Suu Kyi.
The wax figure of President Putin is styled from his appearance at this year’s “National Day of Russia” ceremony which took place in Moscow on June 12, which means the specifications are extremely up to date. Russia celebrates has celebrated its national holiday on June 12 since 1992 when the country gained independence at the historic end of the USSR. – madametussauds.com/Bangkok.
