(Thailand, May 4) – During the Songkran Festival in April, Malaysia surpassed China to become Thailand's largest source of tourists.
According to a report by China News Service, Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sports released statistics on May 3 indicating that 12.09 million international tourists visited Thailand in the first four months of 2025, a slight decrease of 0.26% compared to the same period last year.
In April, 2.54 million international tourists arrived in Thailand, a 7.6% drop from the 2.749 million visitors in April 2024. During this period, Malaysia overtook China as the largest source of tourists to Thailand.
The top 10 countries for tourist arrivals in the first four months were:
- China (1,648,647 visitors)
- Malaysia (1,516,132 visitors)
- Russia (877,516 visitors)
- India (750,056 visitors)
- South Korea (582,385 visitors)
- United Kingdom (445,347 visitors)
- Germany (424,101 visitors)
- United States (401,137 visitors)
- France (382,257 visitors)
- Japan (374,896 visitors)
Foreign Tourist Decline Causes Concern
Tourism is one of Thailand's key economic pillars, and the decline in foreign tourist numbers has raised concerns for the Thai government. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin convened a meeting on May 3 with officials from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the Tourism Authority of Thailand to discuss measures to stimulate the tourism industry.
Srettha stated that Thailand's recent tourism data fell short of expectations due to global economic conditions, recent earthquakes, and negative reports. He emphasized the need for the government to implement appropriate measures to address these challenges.
Minister of Tourism and Sports, Sudawan Wangsupakitkosol, highlighted the importance of Chinese tourists to Thailand’s tourism recovery efforts. He instructed the ministry to coordinate with relevant agencies to formulate strategies to attract more Chinese visitors.