Picture courtesy of The Nation

 

Vietnam has overtaken Thailand in attracting Chinese visitors, as rising costs and safety concerns weigh on the kingdom’s tourism industry. Thai travel agents acknowledge the challenge but argue that Thailand still holds strong appeal, provided confidence in safety can be restored. The baht’s appreciation against the yuan has made Thailand around 20% more expensive for Chinese travellers compared to last year.

 

Adith Chairattananon, secretary-general of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), said that rebuilding trust will not be quick, noting safety concerns have long been a part of Thai society. ATTA forecasts subdued Chinese arrivals in 2025, with safety issues compounded by Beijing’s efforts to boost domestic tourism. Despite this, Adith stressed that the long-term outlook remains promising given China’s vast and growing middle class.

 

China’s premier has predicted that the number of middle-class citizens will rise from 400 million to 800 million by 2035. Adith explained that travel has become a lifestyle choice for this demographic, with Chinese travellers currently averaging five overseas trips annually. This is far fewer than in Hong Kong, Singapore, or Taiwan, suggesting considerable potential for future growth.

 

While some argue that Thailand will never again see 10 million Chinese arrivals per year, Adith believes otherwise. He said Thailand could attract 15–20 million annually in the future, thanks to its short-haul location within a five-hour flight from China. However, he warned that Thailand must address rising living costs and lagging infrastructure compared to Vietnam’s expanding tourist hubs.

 

Vietnam has invested heavily in developing five key destinations, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Danang, Nha Trang, and Phu Quoc, with efficient transport links from airports to city centres. Adith highlighted that only Bangkok currently offers similar convenience in Thailand. He cautioned that the combination of higher costs and infrastructure gaps makes competition with Vietnam particularly difficult when the baht 

 

Key Takeaways

 

• Vietnam has surpassed Thailand in attracting Chinese visitors amid cost and safety concerns.

• The strong baht has made Thailand about 20% more expensive for Chinese tourists than last year.

• ATTA projects long-term growth potential, with China’s middle class expected to double by 2035.

 

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  Adapted by Asean Now from Nation 2025-09-20

 

 

 

 

Thailand killed the tourist industry snd has no clue how to recover it.. retitees are declining, and the THB is too expensive. The double standards and pricing are another issue and surely the grumpy immigration. Many things to have a look at and review, but it will not happen. Thailand is too conservative to change things

I agree Thailand is expensive in some things and the AUD Aussie dollar is down to 20.0 

1000 b is now $50

Most of the stuff in the supermarket I can get cheaper in Australia,cheese ,coffee etc 

 

What are Vietnamese price?

The elites that run this country like a high baht so their money buys more overseas they dont depend on tourism or exports but it will eventually catch up with them i hope the government should step in but they are too poweful meanwhile vietnam is making the most of it

Exchange rate is not the primary reason.   

The issue is too many bad news,  one after another,   in Thailand in 2015. 

Writer of the article just not understand. 

22 hours ago, Georgealbert said:

China’s premier has predicted that the number of middle-class citizens will rise from 400 million to 800 million by 2035

 

😩

Baht Surge?

 

The Thai Baht is not currently pegged to the US Dollar. It operates under a managed float system where the value is influenced by market forces, with periodic interventions by the Bank of Thailand.

 

 Vietnamese đồng. VND is managed by the State Bank of Vietnam through a crawling peg to the U.S. dollar.

 

The dollar is off to its worst start to a year in more than half a century. The United States' currency has weakened more than 10 percent over the past six months when compared with a basket of

 

 

On 9/20/2025 at 4:15 PM, ikke1959 said:

Thailand killed the tourist industry snd has no clue how to recover it.

Nonsense, more than enough tourists at the moment: "

BANGKOK, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Thailand's foreign tourist arrivals from January 1 to September 14 fell 7.08% from the same period a year earlier, the Tourism Ministry said on Tuesday.

There were about 23 million foreign visitors during the period, 

https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/thailand-records-71-yy-drop-foreign-visitors-so-far-2025-2025-09-16/

Great news that!

45 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Nonsense, more than enough tourists at the moment: "

BANGKOK, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Thailand's foreign tourist arrivals from January 1 to September 14 fell 7.08% from the same period a year earlier, the Tourism Ministry said on Tuesday.

There were about 23 million foreign visitors during the period, 

https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/thailand-records-71-yy-drop-foreign-visitors-so-far-2025-2025-09-16/

We don't know what they count as tourists... I came back from a holiday in EU and I will be counted as a tourist and maybe so my partner.. But we live already more than 20 years in Thailand and we are no tourists for Thailand anymore...and how about people who make a stopover for a night?? they are not real tourists too... Everything in Thailand is unclear and only used to save their face

On 9/20/2025 at 2:45 PM, ikke1959 said:

Thailand killed the tourist industry snd has no clue how to recover it.. retitees are declining, and the THB is too expensive. The double standards and pricing are another issue and surely the grumpy immigration. Many things to have a look at and review, but it will not happen. Thailand is too conservative to change things

And the general attitude too, rather than treating us like paying guests or customers, they start their silly games right from the point of entry. It’s gone from cheap Charles to cheap Chinese, and now not even that.
 

On 9/20/2025 at 3:03 PM, Georgealbert said:

Vietnam has overtaken Thailand in attracting Chinese visitors, as rising costs and safety concerns weigh on the kingdom’s tourism industry. Thai travel agents acknowledge the challenge but argue that Thailand still holds strong appeal, provided confidence in safety can be restored.

So at least now the admit there is a problem

Someone needs to come in and overhaul the whole tourism sector and visa policies. Other countries are leaving Thailand for dead with ease of visas etc.

But people in charge here only care what they get out of it so the decline will continue.

2 hours ago, ronster said:

Other countries are leaving Thailand for dead with ease of visas etc.

 

Can't blame them.

1 minute ago, watchcat said:

 

Can't blame them.

 

Looking at Turkey or the Philippines at the moment.....fed up with the hassle here....plus no worries over UK pension rights.

On 9/20/2025 at 4:22 PM, georgegeorgia said:

I agree Thailand is expensive in some things and the AUD Aussie dollar is down to 20.0 

1000 b is now $50

Most of the stuff in the supermarket I can get cheaper in Australia,cheese ,coffee etc 

 

What are Vietnamese price?

That's about same as 5 yrs ago 

On 9/20/2025 at 4:15 PM, ikke1959 said:

Thailand killed the tourist industry snd has no clue how to recover it.. retitees are declining, and the THB is too expensive. The double standards and pricing are another issue and surely the grumpy immigration. Many things to have a look at and review, but it will not happen. Thailand is too conservative to change things

And manipulation of the Thai Bhat through money laundering and gold sales and building empty housing estates is on the rise very hard to stop the greedy who do not give a toss. as the mits grow longer

It will get worse

All about the Chinese, right? But I just read yesterday in my Google news feed that Russians are changing their travel plans for the very same reasons, opting for Vietnam, rather than Thailand, so I guess other nationalities probably too...