Thailand reports 11.15 million foreign tourists

This photo taken on December 8, 2022 shows tourists walking past the recently opened Plantopia complex on the popular tourist street Khaosan Road in Bangkok. LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA AFP BANGKOK - Thailand received 11.15 million foreign visitors in the year 2022, a surge from just over 428,000 the previous year when travel restrictions were in place, tourism ministry data showed on Tuesday.

The figures, which beat the government's target, show a good turnaround as Thailand tries to revive its important tourism industry, which bore the brunt of its strict entry and quarantine policies during the epidemic.

In December, there were 2.24 million foreign tourists compared to 230,497 in the same period a year earlier.

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For the full year, there were nearly 40 million foreign tourists in the pre-pandemic year.

The ministry said that Malaysia, India and Singapore were Thailand's top three source markets last year.

In 2023, the government expects to receive 25 million international visitors, including at least five million from China, Thailand's biggest source market before the epidemic.

China's reopening is expected to boost Thailand's vital tourism which before the pandemic accounted for about 12 percent of gross domestic product in Southeast Asia's second-largest economy.