BANGKOK, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Thailand received more than 14 million foreign tourist arrivals in the first five months of 2026, registering a 2.3-percent drop compared to a year earlier, official data showed on Tuesday.
During the January-May period, the Southeast Asian country recorded 14,032,649 inbound tourist arrivals, generating an estimated 679.27 billion baht (around 20.8 billion U.S. dollars) in tourist spending, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
Tourism and Sports Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul said short-haul markets provided a late boost to the monthly tally in May, driven by consecutive public holidays across the region, which spurred travel from neighboring countries.
China remained the top source market for the January-May period with 2,318,312 visitor arrivals, followed by Malaysia, India, Russia, and South Korea, the ministry said in a statement.
Looking ahead, the ministry cited the normalization of domestic energy prices and its ongoing "Trusted Thailand" safety-image campaign as factors expected to support arrivals in the near term. ■