In the face of a historic decline in the number of Chinese tourists, Thailand's significant tourism sector is faltering.
While experts point to security and strategy issues, the opposition openly accuses the government's casino policy of having provoked Beijing's anger, with heavy economic consequences at stake.
Focus on security and new opportunities
Chinese tourists soak lotus bulbs in a bowl of water at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Photo : AFP
Experts call for a focus on improving security and targeting new markets to stimulate recovery.
From January 1 to July 5, 2025, Thailand welcomed 16.8 million international tourists, a 5% drop compared to the same period last year.
Among them, 67.1% came from nearby markets and 32.9% from distant markets.
The number of tourists from nearby markets decreased by 12.20%, with East Asia recording a significant decline of 24.81%, mainly due to the slowdown in Chinese tourism.
At the same time, distant markets saw a positive increase of 14.88% compared to last year.
See: Tourism in Thailand: wealthy Europeans boost the low season
The Thai tourism sector is facing challenges related to structural changes in its market, particularly the slowdown in Chinese tourism, which has always been an important source of visitors.
This decline is partly explained by concerns about travel safety in Thailand.
Several Chinese tourists traveling in Thailand have been kidnapped by Burmese call center gangs.
The kidnapping of a Chinese actor went viral on social media, causing fear of traveling to Thailand.
See: Thailand: cancellations or traveling with fear for Chinese tourists
Despite Thailand's efforts against these call centers, the kidnappings continue.
See: Thailand: new kidnapping of Chinese by Burmese call centers
From January 1 to July 5, 2025, the number of Chinese tourists dropped by 34.23% compared to 2019, before the pandemic, when 11.1 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand out of a total of 39.8 million international visitors, accounting for 28% or approximately 925,000 per month.
Currently, Chinese tourists account for only 13.58% of the total.
If this trend continues, Thailand is expected to welcome only 4 to 5 million Chinese tourists in 2025, which would be the first time in 12 years that the number has fallen below 5 million (excluding the Covid-19 period and post-pandemic recovery).
The loss of Chinese tourists has had a significant impact on Thailand's tourism revenue target.
If Malaysia has surpassed China as the top source market, with 2.36 million tourists compared to 2.32 million for China, Malaysian tourists spend much less.
Chinese tourists typically stay for 7.36 days and spend an average of 42,428 baht (1,108 euros) per trip, compared to 4.17 days and 21,450 baht (560 euros) for Malaysian tourists.
However, markets such as India, Japan, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States have seen growth.
Although distant markets have higher spending, with an average of 81,482 baht (2,130 euros) per trip compared to around 50,000 baht (1,307 euros) for nearby markets, their lower volume (28%) is not enough to fully offset the decline in Chinese tourism.
In addition, the global economic slowdown and geopolitical issues have led distant tourists to be more cautious in their spending.
Thailand is not only facing problems related to the security concerns of Chinese tourists, but it is also facing increased competition, particularly from Japan and Vietnam.
The depreciation of the yen has encouraged more Chinese tourists to visit Japan, which now hosts more than 3.1 million Chinese visitors, surpassing Thailand.
See: Japan dethrones Thailand as the preferred destination for Chinese tourists
In addition, the strengthening of the Thai baht has made Vietnam increasingly popular among Chinese travelers.
See: Tourism, economy: Vietnam on track to overtake Thailand
Yuthasak Supasorn, former governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said:
The prospects for Thai tourism this year may not meet the targets set in terms of the number of tourists and revenue due to the decline in tourist numbers and the global economic slowdown.
Although positive signs are seen in other markets, such as South Asia, Europe, the United States and the Middle East, they do not entirely offset the losses incurred in China.
The Chinese market is vital and we need to quickly put in place an aggressive marketing strategy.
Recovering the one million Chinese tourists who have stopped coming could bring between 40 and 50 billion baht to the Thai economy.
Thailand must urgently address security concerns, introduce new selling points and use value-driven promotions and offers to attract Chinese tourists again. »
The opposition attributes the tourism losses to the casino policy
Casino
Anutin Charnvirakul, former Interior Minister and leader of the opposition Bhumjaithai party, accuses the Pheu Thai government of ignoring repeated warnings from Chinese President Xi Jinping regarding the legalization of casinos.
According to him, this attitude has hurt Thailand's image and contributed to the decline in the number of Chinese tourists.
He states that during the meeting between Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Xi Jinping in Beijing in February 2025, the Chinese president repeatedly expressed his opposition to these projects.
Due to a lack of listening, Beijing allegedly reduced its tourist and economic flows to Thailand.
Anutin said his party left the government coalition in protest, denouncing a policy carried out "to the detriment of the people for the benefit of a minority of investors".
He believes that the loss of Chinese visitors has severely hit the entire tourism sector.
On Wednesday, July 9, the government withdrew the Entertainment Complex Bill from the parliamentary agenda.
See: Thailand temporarily buries its casino bill
The Deputy Finance Minister, Julapun Amornvivat, justified this withdrawal by the need for a new review.
He recalled that Bhumjaithai had initially supported the project when it was part of the coalition.
Bhumjaithai MP Paradorn Prissananantakul called for the outright abandonment of the bill, accusing the government of rushing it through.
He hinted that the withdrawal could be linked to political maneuvering, referring to the leak of a conversation between Paetongtarn and Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen.
See: A betrayal by Hun Sen sows discord in Thailand: the coalition splits
The House finally approved the withdrawal of the bill by 253 votes to 65.
Source : The Nation Thailand, Bangkok Post
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5 comments
The excuse of casinos is nonsense.
The evidence is Macao and Cambodia.
Cambodia is a vassal of Beijing.
What we could criticize the casinos for is that a third entity comes to the table and could reduce the gains of the Chinese government a bit.
It's mainly the baht that is abnormally strong.
The government should either buy less gold or reduce the parity with international currencies.
But for nationalists…
What's still going well in Thailand right now? Not much, to say the least, nothing!
Politically, the country is functioning, albeit poorly, with a government that has lost a large part of its majority and whose hold on power is tenuous at best, operating with an interim prime minister after the recent suspension of the prime minister designate by Parliament.
In terms of global economy and financial stability, both domestically and internationally, this government is struggling like a fish in a muddy pond searching for oxygen, without finding solutions to the many geo-politico-economic-financial problems that are crippling important sectors of industrial and manufacturing activities, whether in terms of the health of its currency, imports or exports, even if there are some temporary random satisfactions in the latter area, which are insufficient to give a boost to GDP, which, like a struggling tourism industry, will show a status quo, or even a probable decline, in the state's resources, whose public debt is rising slowly but surely…
And let's not forget its population, nearly three-quarters of whom have been struggling month after month with a declining standard and quality of life, an ever-crushing household debt, a virtually moribund national tourism industry, and various regional slumps on the sidelines of current border conflicts and interactions with Cambodia and Myanmar.
Add to that, as the icing on the cake, the prospect of a rainy season influenced by climate change and which is worrying in terms of flooding to be expected in the alluvial plains, rural areas, agricultural areas and neighboring agglomerations of the large rivers and streams of the country, which, already at the beginning of July, are saturated in certain provinces in the north of the country, and we get the picture of a Thailand sick with many ills and which cannot find the right medical team to bring it to convalescence and back on its feet to regain the shape of the years 2000 to 2019…
Is HANSSON being too pessimistic?
Rather realistic in the face of a political world whose efforts to emerge from its stagnation are just a tree hiding a forest on the brink of fire.
Thailand remains a magnificent destination, but many tourists are concerned about the decline in quality:
– Dirty and poorly maintained beaches
– Neglected hotels
– Often insufficient English level
– Poor road safety
It's time to invest again in quality, environment, hospitality, and training.
The beauty of the country deserves better. ????????
At the same time, why focus on Chinese tourists when they mostly arrive in groups, frequent Chinese restaurants, stay in hotels managed by Chinese, so almost all the money goes back to China.
« Hansson » What's still going well in Thailand right now?
Not much, to not say « nothing »!
And it's not just my impression... in FRANCE what's going well?
Alas!