BANGKOK: Malaysia is Thailand’s current leading source of foreign tourist arrivals, with more than four million Malaysians visiting the kingdom as of Nov 16 this year.
Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Ministry permanent secretary Natthriya Taweewong said Thailand recorded 28.28 million foreign tourist arrivals from Jan 1 to Nov 16 this year.
She added that the top five source countries were Malaysia with 4.06 million visitors, followed by China (3.95 million), India (2.11 million), Russia (1.53 million) and South Korea (1.34 million).
"Overall, foreign tourist arrivals this year have generated approximately 1.31 trillion baht in tourism revenue,” she said in a statement on Tuesday (Nov 18).
Natthriya said short-haul markets continued to perform strongly over the past week, led by Malaysia.
Natthriya said tourist numbers are expected to rise in the coming week, driven by consecutive public holidays in Japan and the start of the high-season travel period for both short-haul and long-haul markets.
She said Thailand’s Ease of Travelling measures, including the exemption of the TM6 arrival card, as well as efforts to encourage airlines to increase flight frequencies, would further support inbound tourism.
Last Thursday, the Tourism and Sports Ministry announced its target to generate 2.8 trillion Baht in tourism revenue by 2026 with the launch of the "Trusted Thailand” symbol aimed at boosting traveller confidence. - Bernama
