Thailand's Southern floods cut Malaysian tourists by 55%, impacting 2025 arrivals
Relocation of SEA Games and a massive slump in cross-border traffic are compounding crisis for Hat Yai, leaving local businesses to navigate a silent high season while they race to repair flood-damaged infrastructure.
- Severe flooding in southern Thailand is projected to cause a 55% year-on-year decrease in Malaysian tourist arrivals for December 2025.
- For the full year 2025, arrivals from Malaysia are forecast to fall by 11%, contributing to an overall 8% decline in Thailand's total foreign visitors.
- The impact on Malaysian tourists is particularly high as over 70% typically enter the country through the flood-affected southern land border checkpoints.
Thailand’s Tourism Authority (TAT) expects Hat Yai district in Songkhla province to take around a month to recover from severe flooding that hit nine southern provinces, with homes, hotels and businesses suffering heavy damage.
In the other eight provinces, where impacts were assessed as low to moderate, tourism businesses, hotels, restaurants and attractions have largely been able to resume normal operations.
For the long weekend marking Father’s Day (December 5–7), average occupancy across key destinations in those eight provinces is projected at 40%–66%.
TAT Governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool said the authority has revised its domestic-travel outlook for December 2025, estimating Thai visitor trips to Songkhla at about 244,300, down 21.89% year-on-year, generating tourism revenue of THB1.92 billion, down 23.57%.
For the South overall, domestic trips are projected at 1.73 million, down 5.37%, with revenue of THB17.19 billion, down 7.14%.
Nationwide, domestic trips in December are forecast at 18.33 million, down 2.04%, with revenue of THB108.98 billion, down 3.63%.
For the full year 2025, TAT expects Songkhla to record 3.40 million domestic trips, up 1.43% from 2024, though tourism revenue is forecast at THB22.973 billion, down 1.84%.
Across the South, domestic trips are projected at 23.11 million, up 2.80%, with revenue of THB205.174 billion, up 2.90%.
Nationally, domestic trips are estimated at 201.47 million, up 1.05%, generating THB1.15948 trillion in revenue, up 2.13%.
Thapanee cited four key factors weighing on the domestic market:
- Flood damage, particularly in Hat Yai’s economic zone, has caused widespread losses have hitting homes, assets, hotels and businesses. The Hat Yai Hotel Association estimates that about 95% of hotels have been severely affected, including structural damage and impacts on guest rooms, requiring repairs and city restoration of at least one month.
- Safety perceptions in Hat Yai, following viral images of incidents such as threats against rescue workers and theft from convenience stores and railway freight containers, have raised traveller anxiety and prompted some to avoid the area.
- Relocation of SEA Games 2025 events scheduled for December 9–20 to Bangkok which has reduced Songkhla’s ability to draw visitors during the period.
- Health concerns after the floods, including worries about disease and environmental conditions such as waste and PM10 dust that can emerge after the waters recede, potentially affecting respiratory health.
On inbound travel, Thapanee said 2,728,859 foreign visitors arrived in Thailand between November 1–30, 2025, down 7% from a year earlier.
Despite November being a peak high-season month, the Malaysian market was hit hard, dragging down overall performance and compounding earlier weakness in Asian markets.
She noted that more than 70% of visitors in these segments typically enter via southern land border checkpoints.
“Although the flooding in Hat Yai, Songkhla has eased, the recovery of Thai operators and lingering travel concerns are still affecting the overall tourism picture,” she said.
TAT estimates Malaysia will send about 205,000 visitors in December 2025, down 55% year-on-year, generating roughly THB4.444 billion, down 54%.
For the full year 2025, Malaysian arrivals are projected at about 4.38 million, down 11% from 2024, with tourism revenue of THB93.475 billion, also down 11%.
Overall, Thailand is forecast to welcome around 32.83 million foreign visitors in 2025, down 8% from 2024, generating about THB1.52 trillion in tourism revenue, down 5%.
TAT said recovery work is particularly urgent in Hat Yai’s Kim Yong Market area, a key commercial district in Songkhla, where flood damage has been extensive, and clean-up is needed alongside public-health measures and waste removal.
The authority added that traveller sentiment remains cautious, with concerns about longer-term impacts, especially crisis management and the shifting of sporting events, potentially affecting Thailand’s image and confidence in travel.
TAT expects the southern floods to continue weighing on tourism throughout December 2025, while affected operators may need at least one to two months to fully resume tourism activity.
