Bangkok, July 2 - Foreigners traveling to Thailand exceeded 12 million, boosting the economy. The Prime Minister followed up with agencies to speed up solving obstacles. Increase convenience, faster visa approval Confident that the number of tourists will meet the target of 25 million people
Ms. Trisulee Trisoranakul, Deputy Spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office, said that Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha, Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Acknowledged the latest tourism situation report from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports that since the beginning of the year until June 25, 2023, 12.46 million foreign tourists have traveled to Thailand, an increase of 539% compared to the same period of Last year, the top 5 countries with the most tourists visiting Thailand were Malaysia 1.98 million people, China 1.38 million people, Russia 7.84 hundred thousand people, South Korea 7.41 hundred thousand people and India 7.32 hundred thousand people respectively.
The increase in tourists is in line with the aviation situation as reported by Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT) that during the eight months of the fiscal year (October 2022-May 2023) with international travelers (including arrivals and departures) through AOT's 6 airports, namely Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Mae Fah Luang, Chiang Rai, Phuket and Hat Yai, totaling 34.31 million people, an increase of 635.7%, and there are international flights flying in- A total of 202,700 flights were issued, an increase of 175.2 percent.
Ms. Trisulee said that the Fiscal Policy Office (FPO), Ministry of Finance. indicates that the continuous expansion of the tourism sector, both from foreign tourists and Thai visitors It is now a major driver of economic growth.
“The tourism sector is the main driver of economic growth this year. offset exports that are still facing fluctuations in the global economy and finances. The Prime Minister therefore instructs relevant agencies to jointly take care of factors that may affect tourism. whether it is an issue that is still an obstacle to traveling in and out of the country confidence the safety of tourists,” Ms. Trisulee said.
The Deputy Spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office said that the Prime Minister has followed up and supported relevant agencies to resolve issues that may still cause inconvenience to tourists, such as the visa system. Or a visa that the tourism business sector has reflected on the comments to be amended to make it faster. The Prime Minister has now learned that relevant agencies are ministry of foreign affairs Ministry of Tourism and Sports Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Royal Thai Police Office Has been closely coordinated to increase the convenience of tourists as much as possible. The same goal is to push the number of foreign tourists to meet the target of 25 million.
Recently, the TAT continues to assess that in 2023 the number of foreign tourists traveling to Thailand will meet the target. While tourists from China will be at 5 million as expected. In July, the TAT will work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to launch the Visa Prescreening System, or VPSS, to speed up visa application for tourists under of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.-Thai News Agency
Source: Thai News Agency