"China's total of 1.12 million visitor arrivals made it the first time that any country had crossed the one million mark in the short span of three months," the Tourism Authority of Thailand said.
Nearly 7 million foreign tourists visited Thailand in the January to March period, up 19 per cent, the authority said.
Some 2.7 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand last year,topping Malaysians for the first time as the prime tourist market for the kingdom.
This year's surge in Chinese tourists was partly attributed to the success of the low-budget Chinese film Lost in Thailand, which opened in theatres in December 2012.//DPA