Kasikorn Research Centre forecast on Wednesday that around 24.5 million tourists will visit Thailand in 2013, bringing in 1.06 trillion baht of revenue.
The number of tourist arrivals to the kingdom and tourism earnings was expected to increase from last year by 10% and 14% respectively. Visitors from China, Japan, South Korea, India and Russia are expected to be the main contributors.
Tourism would prosper in 2013 because the world economy had recently become more stable. However, the 300 baht daily minimum wage would create a problem since tourist businesses employ a lot of staff, the Kasikorn research team said.
The centre warned that if the Thai currency appreciates much more foreigners might not be so keen to visit Thailand because of the higher costs.
Thailand would also need to restore its reputation in the area of tourist safety, which had been damaged by recent theft and murder cases involving tourists, the Kasikorn researchers said.