Foreign tourist arrivals in Thailand from January 1 to May 18 registered a 1.75% decline compared to the same timeframe last year, according to the Tourism Ministry’s report on Tuesday.
The total number of foreign visitors during this period reached approximately 13.4 million, with China serving as the largest source market, contributing 1.83 million tourists.
In an update on Monday, the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) reduced its projection for this year’s foreign tourist arrivals to 37 million from an earlier estimate of 38 million. This adjustment comes in contrast to the nearly 40 million visitors recorded in 2019, before the global pandemic.
NESDC also announced on Monday that Thailand’s economy in the first quarter of 2025 expanded by 3.1% from a year earlier. The growth surpassed the 2.9% growth expected by analysts in a Reuters poll.
The National Economic and Social Development Council reported a 0.7% seasonally adjusted quarterly growth for the January-March, slightly higher than the projected 0.6% growth.
Additionally, the Planning Agency projects the 2025 GDP growth for Thailand to range between 1.3-2.3%, down from the previous estimate of 2.3-3.3% in February.
Employment in Thailand decreased by 0.5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, compared to a 0.4% decline in the last quarter of 2024.
