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| Thailand has many tourist attractions that are loved by many tourists. (Source: Vietrantour) |
In a statement on February 10, Thai government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said Thailand welcomed 128,969 foreign tourists on February 8, two days before this year's Lunar New Year, while the total number of foreign visitors since January 1 reached nearly 4 million.
As of February 8, a total of 3,963,744 foreigners visited the “Land of Golden Pagodas”. Tourists from China topped the list with 730,747 arrivals, followed by tourists from Malaysia (419,116 arrivals), Russia (275,641 arrivals), India (209,431 arrivals) and Laos (130,551 arrivals).
Chai said that on February 8 alone, or the 29th day of the Lunar New Year, a total of 27,951 Chinese tourists arrived in Thailand, and most of them planned to celebrate the Lunar New Year - China's biggest holiday of the year - at various locations in Thailand. He cited a survey by Chinese travel agency Dida Travel, which showed that hotel bookings in Thailand by Chinese tourists from February 10 to 17 this year increased by 243% compared to the same period last year.
The spokesman said factors contributing to the sharp increase in tourism in Thailand could be the demand for travel after the Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in China and the Thai government’s visa-free policy. Starting last September, Thailand exempted visas for visitors from China and Kazakhstan, followed by India and Taiwan in November.
Visa exemptions for Chinese and Kazakhs will expire on February 29, but the Thailand-China visa exemption will continue under a bilateral agreement to permanently remove visa requirements for visitors from both countries for up to 90 days from March 1.
Mr. Chai also said that in addition to attracting tourists from China, the Thai government is also building positive relationships with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to promote joint tourism in the region. One of the notable initiatives is the “One Destination” project to promote tourism in six member countries with the participation of Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.
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