South Korea's summer vacation has seen a nearly 20% surge in tourist numbers to Thailand.

The overall picture of Thai tourism in the latest week showed a slowdown due to concerns from nearby markets following worrying news in the southern border region that affected confidence. Meanwhile, flights to India were reduced. However, growth in the European and South Korean markets helped to mitigate the impact. Year-to-date totals exceed 18.5 million visitors, generating revenue nearing 9 billion baht.

On August 5, 2569, the Tourism and Sports Economics Division of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports reported on the weekly situation of Thai tourism (Week 31, July 26 – August 1, 2569), finding that overall tourism had slightly slowed down. The number of foreign tourists entering Thailand totaled 567,312, a decrease of 17,086 people or 2.92% from the previous week. This represents an average of 81,045 tourists per day.

The main factor stems from the significant slowdown in the short-haul market, with 362,773 tourists, a decrease of 4.34% from the previous week. This was largely due to negative sentiment stemming from news of unrest in the southern border provinces of Thailand, coupled with substantial reductions in seat capacity by airlines on Indian routes.

Furthermore, flights on the India–Thailand route decreased by 28.6% compared to the same period last year, and the India–Malaysia route decreased by 20.7%, resulting in an 8.92% decrease in the number of Indian tourists in the latest week, totaling only 32,639 people.

South Korea's economy surged nearly 20%, boosted by the summer break.

Amid a slowdown in near-haul markets, long-haul markets, particularly Europe, continue to expand, with 204,539 travelers last week. Although this represents a slight decrease of 0.31% from the previous week, it is still supported by the opening of new flight routes such as Dubai–Bangkok (Don Mueang) and Amsterdam–Suvarnabhumi.

Meanwhile, the South Korean market showed remarkable growth and became the star of the week, boosted by the summer holiday period, resulting in an increase in family tourists visiting Thailand. This pushed the number of South Korean tourists up by 19.85% from the previous week, reaching 25,778 people, moving them up to fourth place among the top markets visiting Thailand.

"South Korea's summer school break is a contributing factor to the increase in family tourists visiting Thailand, resulting in a 19.85% increase in South Korean tourists from the previous week, moving Thailand up to fourth place."

Cumulative total for 7 months exceeds 18.5 million people, raking in 8.9 billion baht.

The top five countries with the highest number of foreign tourists last week were China (106,854), Malaysia (58,682), India (32,639), South Korea (25,778), and Taiwan (21,610). The number of Chinese tourists decreased by 2.32%, Malaysia by 9.50%, India by 8.92%, and Taiwan by 8.27% compared to the previous week.

Overall, from January 1st to August 1st, 2569, Thailand received a cumulative total of 18,510,243 foreign tourists, a slight decrease of 3.19% compared to the same period of the previous year. This generated cumulative revenue from tourist spending of 896,214 million baht.

The top five nationalities of tourists visiting Thailand this year are China (3,078,486 people), Malaysia (2,373,537 people), India (1,376,433 people), Russia (1,100,847 people), and South Korea (679,064 people), respectively.

A short-term slowdown is expected before a new recovery begins.

The Ministry of Tourism and Sports assesses that in the short term, the number of foreign tourists may continue to slow down slightly, particularly due to pressure from the Malaysian market, which is expected to temporarily decline before recovering and expanding again in the following period.

"The number of foreign tourists is expected to slow down slightly, driven by a short-term decline in the Malaysian market, before rebounding in the following period."

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