Foreign tourist arrivals exceed 10 million in Q1

 

FILE photo

 

BANGKOK, 19th April 2018 (NNT) – The Thai tourism sector has been doing well so far this year, with more foreign visitors than last year and 12 percent growth in domestic travel during the Songkran Festival. 

Permanent Secretary for Tourism and Sports Pongpanu Svetarundra reported that, in March this year, approximately 3.5 million foreigners paid visits to Thailand, creating income of over 189 billion baht for the country. The majority of them, or over 2.2 million, came from East Asia, followed by Europe, the Americas, South Asia, Oceania, the Middle East and Africa. Chinese tourists continued to account for the highest number. 

Over the first quarter of this year, Thailand saw 10.6 million foreign tourist arrivals, up 15.4 percent on the same period last year, while revenue generated from the foreign visitors surpassed 573 billion baht, up 19 percent. 

As for domestic tourism, the Permanent Secretary said more than 12 million trips were made within the country by Thai travelers in February, generating over 89 billion baht worth of revenue, 15 percent higher year-on-year. 

During the Songkran holidays from April 12-16, the number of domestic trips made climbed 12 percent to about 3.1 million trips, with 35 billion baht's worth of income generated. Of this number, more than 1 million trips were made by holidaymakers to secondary cities, an increase of 17.6 percent from last year.

 

-- nnt 2018-04-19

And yet there are many who would say the place is the sodom and gomorrah of 21st century

The woman are all after your money

The men hunt in packs 

Police are all corrupt

Seas are brimming with sharks

Etc etc etc 

I have never experienced any of these things.  All my experiences are nothing but positive.

Funny old world innit

1 hour ago, webfact said:

in March this year, approximately 3.5 million foreigners paid visits to Thailand,

I find this very hard to believe. Thats a massive number of visitors, 100,000 a day, all trying to get past immigration and waiting to collect luggage. Is this physically possible?

48 minutes ago, Expatthailover said:

And yet there are many who would say the place is the sodom and gomorrah of 21st century

The woman are all after your money

The men hunt in packs 

Police are all corrupt

Seas are brimming with sharks

Etc etc etc 

I have never experienced any of these things.  All my experiences are nothing but positive.

Funny old world innit

Well you have to make allowances for the "we're doomed" attitude amongst many here, and for others who are horrified to realise that Thailand is not the same as wherever they hail from, and wish to change it to be so.

 

Pragmatically of course one has to acknowledge that for lots of reasons, some good and some not good, Thailand runs differently. Personally sometimes that delights, charms and entertains me, sometimes it irritates and even annoys me, and occasionally (as with the current road carnage) it horrifies me. On balance I am far more entertained than annoyed. That is why, and for lots of good personal reasons, I am content to live here. But it's not perfect. Nowhere is.

Edited April 19, 20188 yr by JAG

12 minutes ago, Lungstib said:

I find this very hard to believe. Thats a massive number of visitors, 100,000 a day, all trying to get past immigration and waiting to collect luggage. Is this physically possible?

The Article does not pinpoint any particular airport, just numbers of foreign arrivals. If one considers Swampy, DM, Phuket, Uotapao (sic spelling) and other airports that service international flights then in my opinion such numbers can be handled comfortably.

1 hour ago, Expatthailover said:

And yet there are many who would say the place is the sodom and gomorrah of 21st century

The woman are all after your money

The men hunt in packs 

Police are all corrupt

Seas are brimming with sharks

Etc etc etc 

I have never experienced any of these things.  All my experiences are nothing but positive.

Funny old world innit

ever leave the confines of  your house?

1 hour ago, Expatthailover said:

And yet there are many who would say the place is the sodom and gomorrah of 21st century

The woman are all after your money

The men hunt in packs 

Police are all corrupt

Seas are brimming with sharks

Etc etc etc 

I have never experienced any of these things.  All my experiences are nothing but positive.

Funny old world innit

Please report back to us after you have been here for a full week!! 

51 minutes ago, Lungstib said:

I find this very hard to believe. Thats a massive number of visitors, 100,000 a day, all trying to get past immigration and waiting to collect luggage. Is this physically possible?

Ummm, not all those visitors flew in through Swampy, there are other ways into the country!

52 minutes ago, Lungstib said:

I find this very hard to believe. Thats a massive number of visitors, 100,000 a day, all trying to get past immigration and waiting to collect luggage. Is this physically possible?

 

I crossed the land border in Padang Besar a few weeks back, and I'd have sworn there were that many in line.  It was the first day of a Malaysian school holiday and the border crossing was packed.

58 minutes ago, JAG said:

Pragmatically of course one has to acknowledge that for lots of reasons, some good and some not good, Thailand runs differently. Personally sometimes that delights, charms and entertains me, sometimes it irritates and even annoys me, and occasionally (as with the current road carnage) it horrifies me. On balance I am far more entertained than annoyed. That is why, and for lots of good personal reasons, I am content to live here. But it's not perfect. Nowhere is.

 

And what's interesting is that the idiosyncrasies that attracted us in the first place are often the most irritating later.

 

How many of the reported tourists were Chinese on cheap "excursions" without needing a visa and how many were genuine tourists who came to enjoy a pleasant rest and entertainment, etc., and had a visa?

Next quarter 20 million visitor!

Who believe?

3 hours ago, Lungstib said:

I find this very hard to believe. Thats a massive number of visitors, 100,000 a day, all trying to get past immigration and waiting to collect luggage. Is this physically possible?

 

Arrivals are to more than one airport, so the 100,000 a day is split between them.   

Suvarnabhumi airport operates 24 hours a day, so yes, Suvarnabhumi can handle the volume, although the incoming visitors are not all arriving there.   Most flights from China arrive at DM, many flights arrive direct to Phuket, and a lesser number to Chiang Mai.

 

On 4/19/2018 at 7:04 AM, Lungstib said:

I find this very hard to believe. Thats a massive number of visitors, 100,000 a day, all trying to get past immigration and waiting to collect luggage. Is this physically possible?

 

I really do question these numbers too. Is immigration at Swampy and DM capable of handling that many tourists? Are there that many arriving in Phuket and CM? Or is it possible these numbers are fudged, to include transit passengers, and arrivals of businessmen too? How would one ever be able to verify these numbers that are freely thrown out there? It just does not seem like there are that many people on the ground. A lot of people in tourism have been complaining how quiet it has been this year. One wonders. One doubts. 

Edited August 28, 20187 yr by spidermike007