China Tourist Numbers Still Trail in Thailand

Thailand’s tourism sector continues to feel the impact of a sharp decline in Chinese visitors, despite China regaining its position as the country’s largest source market in 2026. Between 1 January and 4 July 2026, Thailand welcomed 16,210,890 foreign visitors, down 3.11 percent year on year, generating 782.57 billion baht in tourism revenue, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

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China accounted for 2,654,728 arrivals during the period, ahead of Malaysia with 2,109,956, followed by India with 1,239,023, Russia with 1,022,483 and South Korea with 596,673. In one recent summer week, Thailand received 83,492 Chinese visitors compared with 78,306 Malaysians, highlighting how closely the two markets now compare despite China’s population of 1.4 billion and Malaysia’s 35 million.

The shift follows a difficult year for Thailand’s tourism industry in 2025. Chinese arrivals fell from around 6.73 million in 2024 to approximately 4.47 million, a decline of about 34 percent. Total international arrivals also dropped 7.23 percent to 32.97 million, marking Thailand’s first annual decline outside the pandemic years.

As China weakened, Malaysia became Thailand’s largest source market for 2025 with around 4.52 million visitors. Malaysia’s strong performance is supported by its shared land border with Thailand, extensive road and air links, and regular short-break, shopping and medical travel. However, Malaysian visitors stay for fewer than five days on average, compared with more than nine days for the average international visitor, resulting in lower spending per traveller despite higher visitor volumes.

Malaysia has also emerged as Thailand’s strongest regional tourism competitor. The country recorded 42.2 million foreign arrivals in 2025, surpassing Thailand’s 32.97 million to become Southeast Asia’s most-visited destination. At the same time, Malaysia is targeting seven million Chinese visitors in 2026 through visa-free entry, expanded flights to smaller Chinese cities and marketing campaigns on Douyin, Weibo and RedNote.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports expects arrivals to increase through mid-July, supported by school holidays in China and Europe. Officials also pointed to stronger demand from short-haul markets including China and Hong Kong, alongside long-haul visitors from France, Germany and the Netherlands.

The Thaiger reported that Thailand’s tourism industry remains cautious about the pace of recovery. Tourism operators have reduced their 2026 forecast for Chinese arrivals from nine million to seven million, citing safety concerns linked to scam networks and rising travel costs. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has also revised its overall forecast for 2026 to between 30 million and 34 million international arrivals.

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11 July 2026