Tourism Tourism Shock: Thailand's Visitor Numbers See Alarming Plunge

[webfact]

Picture courtesy of Xinhua

 

Thailand's tourism sector faces a pressing situation as foreign arrivals nosedive, with both leisure and corporate travellers dwindling.

 

Former TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn stresses urgent reform is needed to revive the industry and proposes the creation of new destinations to attract higher-quality visitors. Visitor numbers have dropped 1% as of May 11, with particular declines from key markets like China, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

 

Yuthasak notes China, typically providing 900,000 visitors per month, now sees daily arrivals plummet to 13,739, contributing to the overall drop of daily foreign entries to under 60,000.

 

Additionally, the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) segment recorded a 15% international market decline, with revenue shrinking by 21% in the first quarter of 2025. Southeast Asian markets, excluding Myanmar, similarly report a reduction in arrivals.

 

The former TAT head underscores a need to rebuild trust and elevate Thailand's hospitality. Recently, the World Economic Forum ranked Thailand 47th in the Travel & Tourism Development index, noted as the sharpest decline regionally, stressing the decline in safety and security.

 

Competitorial strengths in these areas highlight the nation's need for improvement and diversification towards new offerings.

 

Yuthasak advocates for attracting high-spending tourists, focusing on health, wellness, and business travel mingled with leisure as a strategy.

 

The emphasis lies on transitioning from a demand-driven to a supply-driven approach, crafting high-value tourism products and stimulating satisfaction to distribute tourism income fairly among communities.

 

Implementing these strategies is seen as pivotal to halting the decline and restoring Thailand's standing as a premier tourism destination.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from Bangkok Post 2025-05-16

 

 

[FlorC]

The picture suggests that construction in Thailand is so bad that Chinese visitors wear a 

helmet to walk around. 

 

[petermik]

2 minutes ago, FlorC said:

The picture suggests that construction in Thailand is so bad that Chinese visitors wear a 

helmet to walk around. 

 

No the biggest danger is the pavement conditions...folk are tripping and falling due to them looking skywards for falling debris......

[Upnotover]

9 minutes ago, FlorC said:

The picture suggests that construction in Thailand is so bad that Chinese visitors wear a 

helmet to walk around. 

 

 

Yes, strange that, it's obviously a thing there.....

 

[thesetat]

53 minutes ago, webfact said:

Yuthasak notes China, typically providing 900,000 visitors per month, now sees daily arrivals plummet to 13,739, contributing to the overall drop of daily foreign entries to under 60,000.

They know the reason for the plummet. Their attempts to assure these countries how safe Thailand is has not worked. Immigration problems, police extortion or laziness problems. Many reasons why tourism has slowed so much. 

The TAT lies all through the year until the actual numbers become known. Then they make excuses and say OH! Maybe it is something (usually unrelated to the real problem) or TAT asks the government for more money to attract people that have chosen not to come to Thailand. 

[Gottfrid]

And it´s going to fall more, resulting in a deeper decline. I think, happy days are here again. It´s going to be cleaner, nicer and calmer. 

[Artisi]

54 minutes ago, FlorC said:

The picture suggests that construction in Thailand is so bad that Chinese visitors wear a 

helmet to walk around. 

 

 

54 minutes ago, FlorC said:

The picture suggests that construction in Thailand is so bad that Chinese visitors wear a 

helmet to walk around. 

 

No, there is construction going on inside the building and everyone including tourists have to wear a safety helmet. 

Actually, in countries with proper safety regulations, as a tourist you wouldn't be allowed anywhere near some of the areas under construction - but being Thailand, well you know, mai bpen rai - it's ok. 

[Bert got kinky]

51 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

 

Yes, strange that, it's obviously a thing there.....

 

 

Someone should tell them that Skylab landed ages ago.

 

 

[Artisi]

Typical TAT, last week the tourist industry was booming, millions of tourists flocking in - this week its all doom and gloom, numbers have fallen dramatically - - does TAT really know that day of the week it is? 

[KhunBENQ]

1 hour ago, FlorC said:

The picture suggests that construction in Thailand is so bad that Chinese visitors wear a 

helmet to walk around. 

 

The Sanctuary of Truth in Pattaya is a wooden self-made construction and helmets are mandatory.

No helmet no entry (guess you rent it at the entrance).

Nothing to do with Chinese.

Even the girls on social media do their selfies with helmet.

[KhunBENQ]

3 minutes ago, Artisi said:

Typical TAT, last week the tourist industry was booming, millions of tourists flocking in - this week its all doom and gloom, numbers have fallen dramatically - - does TAT really know that day of the week it is? 

Heaven help it's May!

And they will never know whether to attract the masses from China or India or should continue to dream about the high spending quality tourists (which they scared away long ago).

[frank83628]

Its called low season. Happens every year.

 

Not sure a 1% decline in tourists is a major issue

[MalcolmB]

1 hour ago, FlorC said:

The picture suggests that construction in Thailand is so bad that Chinese visitors wear a 

helmet to walk around. 

 

It is still under construction, when complete the helmets will be unnecessary.

[nong38]

The decline is hardly a surprise to me, Thailand has been putting up prices but not giving anything more so the value of the holiday has gone down, food prices up and hotels as well and then there is the variety of prices for the same thing. I was in Hua Hin last week and we got a tuk tuk ride for 100 bts, the return wanted 150 bts until the wife stepped in but this seems to be typical in :  see what I can get out of the tourist  ". The week before I was in Koh Samui and went into a pharmacy to get tablets for an upset stomach, the 10 tablets cost me 50 bts, where I live in Thailand I can get a box of 60 for 80 bts.  ON the Lamai Night market my wife got food poisoning and put it down to old oil, not a problem for the kitchen and it saves them money but the market loses its reputation. Just a few examples of maybe why tourists might be looking elsewhere.

No doubt non of these are the reason for the decline in TAT or similar, it will be the exchange rate, well do something about it then!

[sandyf]

6 minutes ago, frank83628 said:

Its called low season. Happens every year.

 

Not sure a 1% decline in tourists is a major issue

Indeed. 

Headline sensationalism.

[frank83628]

7 minutes ago, nong38 said:

The decline is hardly a surprise to me, Thailand has been putting up prices but not giving anything more so the value of the holiday has gone down, food prices up and hotels as well and then there is the variety of prices for the same thing. I was in Hua Hin last week and we got a tuk tuk ride for 100 bts, the return wanted 150 bts until the wife stepped in but this seems to be typical in :  see what I can get out of the tourist  ". The week before I was in Koh Samui and went into a pharmacy to get tablets for an upset stomach, the 10 tablets cost me 50 bts, where I live in Thailand I can get a box of 60 for 80 bts.  ON the Lamai Night market my wife got food poisoning and put it down to old oil, not a problem for the kitchen and it saves them money but the market loses its reputation. Just a few examples of maybe why tourists might be looking elsewhere.

No doubt non of these are the reason for the decline in TAT or similar, it will be the exchange rate, well do something about it then!

Samui is a tourist island, cheweng & lamai being the two most popular areas, prices are bound to be higher. Hua hin is still cheap, but taxi & tuk tuk will try an extra bump here n there.

[2long]

Uh, hello!

It's the middle of May and the end of high season.

Has anyone else noticed that it's not just lumps of concrete falling from the sky. There's this stuff called rain!

[sandyf]

5 minutes ago, nong38 said:

I was in Hua Hin last week and we got a tuk tuk ride for 100 bts,

Prices are falling then. 

Over a decade ago we stopped overnight in Hua Hin on way to Penang. Tuk tuk was 200 baht to go half a mile down the road. Would have walked if not before smartphone days.

Always found it expensive and hardly representative of Thailand.

I would suggest Chinese staying at home was more to with China's domestic issues.

[Stocky]

2 hours ago, webfact said:

... dwindling.

 

....Visitor numbers have dropped 1%

That's a stretch

[ChipButty]

22 minutes ago, 2long said:

Uh, hello!

It's the middle of May and the end of high season.

Has anyone else noticed that it's not just lumps of concrete falling from the sky. There's this stuff called rain!

For the last 2 years in May the weather has been good, very hot, I know because my daughter has been here so I remember it well, we are in the south of Phuket, it's different this year a lot more rain, 

[ChipButty]

It's definitely down this year, I know quite a few people in the tourism business and restaurants, you only need to drive around and see the amount bikes and scooters lined on the forecourts for rent, it's loads just in my area, 

Last night around 11pm at a condo project the car park was empty, it wasn't that bad during covid, 

[Yagoda]

8 minutes ago, 2long said:

Uh, hello!

It's the middle of May and the end of high season.

Has anyone else noticed that it's not just lumps of concrete falling from the sky. There's this stuff called rain!

It rained so hard two days ago it overflowed the pool.

[McTavish]

45 minutes ago, 2long said:

Uh, hello!

It's the middle of May and the end of high season.

Not only low season but also China is almost in recession with a fast collapsing economy.  Nationals not only find it difficult to afford travel but have to jump through hoops to be allowed out.

 

Vietnam gained a few tour groups as it's far cheaper to visit but even that market will decline.

[LivingNThailand]

2 hours ago, ChipButty said:

For the last 2 years in May the weather has been good, very hot, I know because my daughter has been here so I remember it well, we are in the south of Phuket, it's different this year a lot more rain, 

Yes, I usually tell people to come to Phuket in May and June as the weather is nice, some rain off and on, and fewer tourists.  It's been raining for two weeks, and it flooded by my house 2 days ago.  Definitely different this year.

[saakura]

3 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Heaven help it's May!

And they will never know whether to attract the masses from China or India or should continue to dream about the high spending quality tourists (which they scared away long ago).

The flag waving zero-dollar Chinese mass tourism stopped a very long time ago and today their middle class is quite prosperous. The average Chinese tourist today could be spending more than the average western tourist. And Indian tourists may also reach the same level in 10-15 years from now.

[Peabody]

4 hours ago, frank83628 said:

Its called low season. Happens every year.

 

Not sure a 1% decline in tourists is a major issue

Chinese = 55% drop

"...uthasak notes China, typically providing 900,000 visitors per month, now sees daily arrivals plummet to 13,739," 

[Photoguy21]

4 hours ago, nong38 said:

The decline is hardly a surprise to me, Thailand has been putting up prices but not giving anything more so the value of the holiday has gone down, food prices up and hotels as well and then there is the variety of prices for the same thing. I was in Hua Hin last week and we got a tuk tuk ride for 100 bts, the return wanted 150 bts until the wife stepped in but this seems to be typical in :  see what I can get out of the tourist  ". The week before I was in Koh Samui and went into a pharmacy to get tablets for an upset stomach, the 10 tablets cost me 50 bts, where I live in Thailand I can get a box of 60 for 80 bts.  ON the Lamai Night market my wife got food poisoning and put it down to old oil, not a problem for the kitchen and it saves them money but the market loses its reputation. Just a few examples of maybe why tourists might be looking elsewhere.

No doubt non of these are the reason for the decline in TAT or similar, it will be the exchange rate, well do something about it then!

If Thailand allowed for that 4 letter word "Competition" things would change dramatically and quickly. It would be good for the Thai people as they would see how competition works and the increase in tourists would still give them a decent living.

[frank83628]

19 minutes ago, Peabody said:

Chinese = 55% drop

"...uthasak notes China, typically providing 900,000 visitors per month, now sees daily arrivals plummet to 13,739," 

Yeah, butbasbi said, its low season, so what are the figures for previous years in May

[ikke1959]

A result that should not be surprising as many foreigners here on this forum already told years ago that Thailand has to take care of the tourists, but they don't invest anything in the tourism industry except double standards, dangerous roads, outdated laws, no infrastructure and with the manipulated high THB an expensive country.. put the grumpy immigration and the greedy tax on it and indeed tourists and other people will look for another less complicated country to visit or live in

[daveAustin]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

Former TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn stresses urgent reform is needed to revive the industry and proposes the creation of new destinations to attract higher-quality visitors.

 

No no no no! Forget the reaming of extra value tourists; upgrade your existing attractions, facilities and infrastructure. Flights are also getting silly and perhaps look at the currency. Essentially people are getting less and less year on year, while prices continue to burgeon. Alright inflation (and the security thing has put people off), but it is over and above that... food and drink in a half decent restaurant/bar in any of the tourist hangouts is a rip and totally out of whack with standard fare outside these areas. Enough of the 200 baht fried rice and more expensive beer than Europe bs.