Southeast Asian country witnesses 5.62% year-on-year drop in tourist arrivals

By Reuters July 18, 2025 | 12:07 am PT

Visitors take pictures of the gold-plated stupa at Wat Phra That Doi Suthep Buddhist temple in Chiang Mai, Thailand in November 2020. Photo by AFP

Thailand's foreign tourist arrivals from Jan. 1 to July 13 fell 5.62% from the same period a year earlier, the Tourism Ministry said on Tuesday.

There were about 17.75 million foreign visitors during the period, it said in a statement. Malaysia was the largest source market with 2.46 million visitors, followed by China with 2.44 million.

Last month, the Bank of Thailand cut its forecast for foreign tourist arrivals this year to 35 million from 37.5 million. There was a record of nearly 40 million visitors in 2019, before the pandemic.

Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sports this week announced a delay in the implementation of the long-planned Travel Fee for Foreign Tourists to 2026.