A total of 3.13 million international tourists visited the country in August, an 8.66% increase from the same month last year, said Pongpanu Svetarundra, Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Tourism and Sports. Most visitors came from East Asia, Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, the Americas, Oceania and Africa - in that order - with China still on top.
Income from foreign tourism was 163.48 billion baht during August, 11.72% higher than the previous year. Chinese tourists were again the largest source of income, followed by Korea, Japan, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, Laos and Hong Kong.
Mr Pongpanu said Thailand received 23.54 million foreign tourists from January to the end of August, a 5.36% increase over the same period in 2016.
Foreign tourists contributed 1.19 trillion baht in revenue during the first eight months of the year, up 7.47% from the previous year.
In the domestic market, local tourists made 12.33 million trips in the month of July, a 3.46% increase over the same period last year, generating revenue of 76.93 billion baht. From January to the end of July, domestic tourists made 83.70 million trips, contributing more than 500 billion baht.
As of the end of August, total tourism revenue this year was 1.72 trillion baht, an increase of 7.31% from the same period last year. Of total revenue, 1.19 trillion baht came from foreign tourism, and 530 billion baht from the domestic market.