Thai tourism starts 2025 on a high as foreign arrivals surge 18.6%

Country receives over 2 million visitors in first 19 days of year, generating 107 billion baht in revenue

Foreign visitors to Thailand surged 18.63% to over 2 million in the post-New Year period, compared with the same time last year, the Tourism and Sports Ministry announced on Tuesday.

Tourist arrivals between January 1 and 19 totalled 2,139,901, generating around 107.37 billion baht in revenue for Thai businesses.

China was the top source of foreign tourists, with 354,091 arrivals, followed by Malaysia (216,860), Russia (165,501), South Korea (124,823), and India (117,896).

Minister Sorawong Thienthong reported that the past week (January 13-19) saw a slight rise in foreign arrivals from the week before, with a 2.27% increase from short haul markets offsetting a slowdown in long-haul arrivals.

Chinese arrivals showed the biggest jump last week at 9.26%, with Sorawong crediting the permanent visa-free deal agreed between the Thai and Chinese governments.



Sorawong expects foreign arrivals this week (January 20-26) to maintain the same high level as last week. The upward tourism trend this year was being supported by increased airline seat capacity and government travel measures including visa exemption for some countries and land arrivals.

Thailand aims to attract 40 million foreign visitors and tourism revenue of 3 trillion baht in 2025, nearing pre-Covid levels.

(2025/01/22-00:00)