File photo for reference only

 

Thailand has seen a 6% decrease in foreign tourist arrivals during the first seven months of 2025, with 19.29 million international visitors coming to the kingdom compared to the same timeframe last year. This decline, reported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, comes as competition from neighbouring countries intensifies, especially with tourism positioned as a crucial component of economic recovery post-pandemic.

 

Regional Competition Heats Up

 

Neighbouring countries such as China, Japan, and Vietnam are stepping up efforts to capture a larger share of the tourism market. This competitive atmosphere is driving changes in regional travel dynamics, with Japan outpacing Thailand by welcoming 21.5 million foreign tourists in the first half of 2025—a 21% increase from the previous year. Such figures showcase how Japan is becoming an increasingly popular destination, putting pressure on Thailand to revamp its strategies to attract tourists.

 

Japan’s Tourism Success: A Closer Look

 

Japan's tourism boom can be attributed to various factors, including targeted marketing campaigns and strengthened ties with neighbouring countries. South Korea emerged as the top source of tourists to Japan, with 4.78 million visitors, followed closely by China, which saw a 53.5% increase to 4.72 million tourists. This increase is significant as it highlights China's robust travel resurgence and the appeal of Japanese destinations.

 

Interestingly, Thailand ranks sixth among the countries visiting Japan, with 680,500 Thai tourists making the trip, marking a 10.1% rise from the previous year. This trend indicates growing interest in outbound tourism from Thailand, which might be impacting local tourism figures.

 

China’s Return as Thailand's Leading Market

 

Despite the drop in overall numbers, China has reclaimed its position as Thailand’s largest source market for tourists, narrowly surpassing Malaysia. In the first seven months of 2025, Chinese tourist arrivals reached 2.69 million, slightly outpacing Malaysia's 2.66 million visitors. This shift underscores the significance of the Chinese market for Thailand’s tourism sector.

 

Following China and Malaysia, India stands as another key market with 1.37 million visitors. Other important source countries include Russia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States, reflecting a diverse mix of international interest in Thailand.

 

Strategic Moves for Revival

 

In response to the declining figures, Thailand is expected to ramp up marketing efforts and consider new incentives to attract visitors. This may include enhancing infrastructure, improving tourist experiences, and launching collaborative promotional campaigns with airlines and travel agencies. The focus might also shift to tapping into emerging markets while continuing to nurture established ones like China and India.

 

Thailand's tourism authorities may also explore initiatives to diversify attractions, going beyond the traditional beaches and nightlife to promote cultural heritage, eco-tourism, and wellness retreats, which have gained popularity in recent years.

 

Thailand's decrease in tourist arrivals highlights the challenges of maintaining regional competitiveness. As countries like Japan surge ahead, Thailand faces the task of innovating and revitalising its tourism strategies to draw greater numbers back to its shores. The next few months will be crucial as the kingdom navigates through a competitive landscape, aiming to reclaim its standing as a top-tier tourist destination in Southeast Asia.

 

  Adapted by ASEAN Now from The Nation 2025-08-05

 

10 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

aiming to reclaim its standing as a top-tier tourist destination in Southeast Asia.

 

You need to offer top tier to be top tier. Which Thailand isn't.

 

The world is changing while Thailand lives in the past.

 

Remind me about that world class infrastructure in Pattaya with projects years overdue.

Don't worry new routes are available so soon the tourists will flock in

next week's headline, "thailand breaks record thourist arrivals... mainly from India"  --> sorry that was this week's news... 

 

the Ministry of Tourism and Sports reminds me of a housewife who never is happy with her hairdresser

3 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

In the first seven months of 2025, Chinese tourist arrivals reached 2.69 million,

 

A shadow of what is was before Covid, with 11 million Chinese arrivals in 2019

 

45 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

 

A shadow of what is was before Covid, with 11 million Chinese arrivals in 2019

 

 

 

Which is a blessing

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

This decline, reported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, comes as competition from neighbouring countries intensifies, especially with tourism positioned as a crucial component of economic recovery post-pandemic.

Thailand has to upgrade amenities and reinvent itself...

The same old year in year out entertainment has faded.

Many of us are enjoying fewer tourist arrivals as it makes for a higher quality experience for virtually everybody. 

For me, the increasing restrictions & regulations in addition to the threats of becoming more restrictive have made me change my mind about visiting Thailand.

I live on Koh Chang and is more like a 70% decrease.... make peace not war would be my recommendation

In some ways TAT could put a positive spin on this.

 

” Focus on higher quality tourists bears fruit with lower overall arrival numbers”

 

The fact that lower tourist numbers is viewed as a bad thing, shows that Thailand isn’t really focused on high quality tourists at all. Quality and quantity are normally two competing factors, with one becoming successful to the exclusion of the other.

 

It’s becoming tiresome to listen to all the BS about focus on quality tourists and at the same time the breast beating and wailing about lower tourist numbers.

The reality is that Thailand has a declining mass market tourism industry. Hence the need to continuously search for new markets due to fewer repeat visitors from established markets and clutching at straws when visitors from XYZ country show a bit of an uptick.

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Thailand is expected to ramp up marketing efforts and consider new incentives to attract visitors.

Introducing TDAC is not the right way to go.

What happened to their soft power? I thought that elephant pants and fried noodles were going to bring hoards of multi-millionaires to Thailand. 

Japan for sure, great country and well visited by Thais, China and Vietnam - you're having a laugh!!

Thai government are not a tourist friendly. 

They are let the immigration officers to rob the clients.

The tourist is a free prey for gangsters of taxi, tuk-tuk business.

If a bar cheating the tourist with astronomical bill, the police support the bars.

The renting business are loaded with cheaters also. 

They are free for cheating the tourists.

In Thailand the tourist are in the status of milking animal.

Who would have thought over running the streets with hooch, Indians, Russians, continuously changing visa rules (only to back flip on them all a week later) and all the while having a strong currency that no-one can explain would put off tourists??

 

No matter what happens, the Thai baht will stay strong, tourism is not an issue 

I have lived here 25 years, nothing changes only more villas and more condo's going up, I cant walk along the main road where I live, no pavements, a death trap,

In Rawai we are doomed McDonalds has opened up on the beach front, 

Seriously, the infrastructure is out of date, a few months back it took me over 2 hours to do 13km, was it because of the rain? I needed to get to the hospital, could been writing "Dead on Arrival" 

I was always told Chinese are not repeat visitors, 

These days lots of Thai people travel abroad we have friends right now doing 10 days in China, 

Also Phuket is pricing itself out of business or maybe it already has done, the cost of flights from the UK has doubled over the last couple of years, 

People,  increasingly becoming cost performance aware on global scale.

What happens If they feel they are not getting the value for what they pay for?

 

Such destinations will be delisted from their choice.

It is how the market economy works.

 

13 hours ago, hotandsticky said:

 

 

Which is a blessing

I think i'll take the pre-covid pattaya with its extra 11 millions chinese tourists than the kind of  (real) cheap  sub-human crowd we've got now post covid which brings the place down to the gutter (along with patong, phuket. To name a few). Any time.

1 hour ago, wensiensheng said:

In some ways TAT could put a positive spin on this.

 

” Focus on higher quality tourists bears fruit with lower overall arrival numbers”

 

The fact that lower tourist numbers is viewed as a bad thing, shows that Thailand isn’t really focused on high quality tourists at all. Quality and quantity are normally two competing factors, with one becoming successful to the exclusion of the other.

 

It’s becoming tiresome to listen to all the BS about focus on quality tourists and at the same time the breast beating and wailing about lower tourist numbers.

The reality is that Thailand has a declining mass market tourism industry. Hence the need to continuously search for new markets due to fewer repeat visitors from established markets and clutching at straws when visitors from XYZ country show a bit of an uptick.

TAT couldn't play spin the bottle let alone put a positive spin on anything.

13 minutes ago, rumeaug said:

I think i'll take the pre-covid pattaya with its extra 11 millions chinese tourists than the kind of  (real) cheap  sub-human crowd we've got now post covid which brings the place down to the gutter (along with patong, phuket. To name a few). Any time.

How to say 'Indian tourists' without saying 'Indian tourists'....lol

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Photo d'archives à titre de référence uniquement

 

La Thaïlande a enregistré une baisse de 6 % des arrivées de touristes étrangers au cours des sept premiers mois de 2025, avec 19,29 millions de visiteurs internationaux par rapport à la même période l'année dernière. Ce recul, signalé par le ministère du Tourisme et des Sports, intervient alors que la concurrence des pays voisins s'intensifie, notamment dans un contexte où le tourisme est considéré comme un élément crucial de la reprise économique post-pandémique.

 

La compétition régionale s'intensifie

 

Les pays voisins comme la Chine, le Japon et le Vietnam redoublent d'efforts pour conquérir une plus grande part du marché touristique. Cette concurrence entraîne des changements dans la dynamique touristique régionale : le Japon a dépassé la Thaïlande en accueillant 21,5 millions de touristes étrangers au premier semestre 2025, soit une augmentation de 21 % par rapport à l'année précédente. Ces chiffres illustrent la popularité croissante du Japon, ce qui pousse la Thaïlande à revoir ses stratégies d'attraction touristique.

 

Le succès du tourisme japonais : un examen plus approfondi

 

L'essor du tourisme au Japon s'explique par plusieurs facteurs, notamment des campagnes marketing ciblées et le renforcement des liens avec les pays voisins. La Corée du Sud est devenue la première source de touristes au Japon, avec 4,78 millions de visiteurs, suivie de près par la Chine, qui a enregistré une hausse de 53,5 % pour atteindre 4,72 millions de touristes. Cette hausse est significative, car elle témoigne de la forte reprise du tourisme en Chine et de l'attrait des destinations japonaises.

 

Il est intéressant de noter que la Thaïlande se classe au sixième rang des pays visitant le Japon, avec 680 500 touristes thaïlandais, soit une hausse de 10,1 % par rapport à l'année précédente. Cette tendance témoigne d'un intérêt croissant pour le tourisme émetteur en provenance de Thaïlande, ce qui pourrait avoir un impact sur les chiffres du tourisme local.

 

Le retour de la Chine comme premier marché de la Thaïlande

 

Malgré la baisse du nombre total de visiteurs, la Chine a repris sa place de premier marché émetteur de touristes en Thaïlande, surpassant de peu la Malaisie. Au cours des sept premiers mois de 2025, les arrivées de touristes chinois ont atteint 2,69 millions, dépassant légèrement les 2,66 millions de visiteurs malaisiens. Cette évolution souligne l'importance du marché chinois pour le secteur touristique thaïlandais.

 

Après la Chine et la Malaisie, l'Inde est un autre marché clé avec 1,37 million de visiteurs. Parmi les autres pays sources importants figurent la Russie, la Corée du Sud, le Royaume-Uni et les États-Unis, ce qui témoigne de la diversité de l'intérêt international pour la Thaïlande.

 

Mesures stratégiques pour la renaissance

 

Face à la baisse des chiffres, la Thaïlande devrait intensifier ses efforts marketing et envisager de nouvelles mesures incitatives pour attirer les visiteurs. Cela pourrait inclure le renforcement des infrastructures, l'amélioration de l'expérience touristique et le lancement de campagnes promotionnelles collaboratives avec les compagnies aériennes et les agences de voyages. L'accent pourrait également être mis sur l'exploitation des marchés émergents tout en continuant à développer les marchés établis comme la Chine et l'Inde.

 

Les autorités touristiques thaïlandaises pourraient également explorer des initiatives visant à diversifier les attractions, allant au-delà des plages traditionnelles et de la vie nocturne pour promouvoir le patrimoine culturel, l'écotourisme et les retraites de bien-être, qui ont gagné en popularité ces dernières années.

 

La baisse du nombre de touristes en Thaïlande met en lumière les défis liés au maintien de la compétitivité régionale. Face à l'essor de pays comme le Japon, la Thaïlande doit innover et revitaliser ses stratégies touristiques pour attirer davantage de visiteurs. Les prochains mois seront cruciaux, le royaume devant naviguer dans un environnement concurrentiel et s'efforcer de reconquérir sa place de destination touristique de premier plan en Asie du Sud-Est.

 

  Adapté par ASEAN Now de The Nation 2025-08-05

 

 

2 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Thailand has to upgrade amenities and reinvent itself...

The same old year in year out entertainment has faded.

Repair the Sidewalks (Pavements) would be a start. 

22 minutes ago, DULEROY said:

 

10 minutes ago, Jiggo said:

Repair the Sidewalks (Pavements) would be a start. 

We dont have any where I live, I have mobility problems I cant walk far, I do have a walking aid but I cant go out where I live no more, we have to pick an area where I can walk, usually the temple is a good place, no traffic, 

More like more and more astringent rules and regulations aiming to Sayful new commers who want to make this

place their home, but  the government want none of it, they want you come, spend your money and sod off.

Still a high Dollar to Baht exchange rate, and only 6-days into a truce in their war with Cambodia.

That's really inviting for most vacationers.

 

56 minutes ago, rumeaug said:

I think i'll take the pre-covid pattaya with its extra 11 millions chinese tourists than the kind of  (real) cheap  sub-human crowd we've got now post covid which brings the place down to the gutter (along with patong, phuket. To name a few). Any time.

 

 

...and you think Pattaya wasn't there already?

 

The Chinese hoards simply made it feel worse...................and those bl00dy tour buses!

Who like to meet russians?