Foreign tourist arrivals to Thailand have risen 21% since the start of the year.
A total of 3.97 million tourists visited the country as of Feb 2 with Chinese visitors totalling 710,687, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports said on Tuesday.
Arrivals in January surged 22% to 3.7 million, it said.
The figures were inflated by travel for Chinese New Year, which was celebrated on Jan 29 this year. Arrivals during the Lunar New Year holidays last week were 946,958, up 7.5% from a week earlier, the ministry said.
Thailand has stepped up safety measures for tourists after reports of Chinese tour groups cancelling trips following the abduction by call scam gangs and subsequent return of actor Wang Xing near the Thai border with Myanmar earlier last month.
China is the biggest source of tourists for Thailand, with arrivals accounting for 6.7 million out of 35.5 million travellers in 2024
The country has generated 195 billion baht in revenue from foreign travellers so far this year, the ministry said. It has targeted 3.5 trillion baht in revenue from foreign and domestic tourists this year, which would equal the pre-pandemic figure of 2019.
