Why is Thai tourism stuttering and will its renewed focus on ‘quality over quantity’ work? Why did Long Hui walk through Patpong?
Thailand is projected to miss its tourist arrival numbers for this year, but authorities are placing more value on “quality” tourists who spend more. It’s a strategy that could be challenging, experts say, given the global economy and the inability to win back the important Chinese market.
International visitors enjoying Koh Samui's famous beaches, a popular tourist destination. (Photo: CNA/Jack Board)
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BANGKOK: Consistently the crownholder of Southeast Asia’s most visited country, Thailand came close in 2019 to a symbolic threshold it had never reached before: 40 million tourists.
It narrowly missed the mark but six years later, it is nowhere close to recreating that golden period for one of the country’s most important industries.
It was overtaken by both Malaysia and Japan in terms of international arrivals in 2024, which welcomed 38 and 36.9 million visitors last year, compared to Thailand’s 35.5 million.
Four years after reopening its borders following the COVID-19 pandemic with the hope that tourists - especially from China - would flood back, Thailand is once again recalibrating its tourism strategy.
