BANGKOK, 19 June 2018: Thailand recorded 16,456,470 arrivals at all immigration checkpoints during January to May, an increase of 12.62% year-on-year.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports permanent secretary, Pongpanu Svetarundra, released details Monday based on a provisional head count at border checkpoints.
Over the five-month period the ministry estimated spend reached THB 867,460.77 million up 16.11%.
The ministry applies a formula based on exit surveys, credit card data and bank estimates to determine an average spend per person for regions and country markets.
China heads the top 10 lists for both arrivals and spend followed by Malaysia and India, but that is to be expected due to the sheer volume of arrivals.
No European markets figure in the top 10 markets for arrivals, a list dominated by nine Asian markets and the USA creeping in at tenth place.
However, on the spend chart the UK comes in at seventh place right after Russia and the US, indicating the three markets are punching financially above their weight in tourist arrivals.
During the five months, Thailand enjoyed double-digit growth in arrivals during January, February and March with each month delivering more than 3.4 million visitors a month.
There was a decline to slightly more than 3 million in April, while May saw the first drop in arrivals below the 3 million mark to 2.75 million, although it was still a positive growth of 6.35% year-on-year.
In May, arrivals reached 2,755,059, of which 2,048,830 were from East Asia, followed by Europe (303,000), South Asia (181,000), the Americas (116,000), Oceania (67,000), Middle East (27,000) and Africa (13,000).
South Asia reported the strongest growth at 9.72%, while the Middle East declined by 31.34%.
The top 10 country markets for arrivals were: China; Malaysia; India; Laos; Korea; Japan, Vietnam; Singapore; Hong Kong and the US.
Revenue during May was estimated at THB 136,710.26 million up 9% year-on-year.
The top 10 revenue generating market in May were: China; Malaysia; India; the US; Korea; Russia; UK; Australia; Japan and Hong Kong.
