Malaysians tops the list of visitors to Thailand
BANGKOK (ANN/THE NATION) – Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol said on Tuesday that 23,241,338 foreign tourists arrived in Thailand from January 1 to November 12.
During their time in Thailand, they generated revenue of THB981.69 billion for the kingdom.
According to the secretariat’s Economics Tourism and Sports Division, the top five nationalities visiting the country this year were Malaysia with 3,824,445 visitors; China with 2,902,462 visitors; South Korea with 1,375,958 visitors; India with 1,354,712 visitors and Russia with 1,170,203 visitors.
Sudawan said data shows that 611,121 foreigners entered Thailand during the week of November 6-12 or about 87,303 tourists daily. This was 9.61 per cent higher than the average in the previous week, which saw 53,567 daily, the minister added.
Sudawan put last week’s influx down to the Diwali holidays in Malaysia and Singapore. She said the number of Malaysian arrivals rose to 49,919 or 28.65 per cent higher than the previous week.
The minister said she expects more foreigners to land on Thai soil next week thanks to a higher number of flights and cold winter in their countries.
She added that the waiver of visa fees for tourists from China, Kazakhstan and India, as well as longer visas for Russians, would contribute to a higher number of tourists before yearend.
