Thailand passes 14m foreign tourists as Malaysia arrivals surge
Thailand received 14.03 million foreign tourists in the first five months, as Malaysian arrivals more than doubled over the past week.
- Thailand welcomed over 14 million foreign tourists between January 1 and May 31, 2026.
- A recent surge in arrivals was driven by Malaysian tourists, whose numbers increased by more than 110% in the last week of May.
- The spike in short-haul travel from countries like Malaysia and Singapore was attributed to regional holidays, including Eid al-Fitr and Vesak Day.
- For the year-to-date, the top five source markets for tourists were China, Malaysia, India, Russia, and South Korea.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports said on Tuesday (June 2, 2026) that Thailand recorded 14,032,649 foreign tourists from January 1 to May 31.
The figure was down 2.30%, while foreign visitor spending generated about THB679.274 billion.
The top five source markets for foreign tourists travelling to Thailand were:
- China — 2,318,312 people
- Malaysia — 1,737,938 people
- India — 1,056,729 people
- Russia — 946,732 people
- South Korea — 539,848 people
Surasak Phancharoenworakul, Minister of Tourism and Sports, said a preliminary assessment found that from Thursday (January 1, 2026) to Sunday (May 31, 2026), cumulative foreign tourist arrivals exceeded 14 million.
Over the past week, from May 25 to 31, short-haul tourists travelled to Thailand in large numbers, with more than 470,000 arrivals, driven by consecutive holidays in several countries, including Eid al-Fitr, the celebration marking the end of Muslim fasting, and Vesak Day in Singapore, which had a three-day long weekend.
In particular, more than 186,000 Malaysian tourists travelled to Thailand, an increase of more than 110% from the previous week.
Singapore also moved up to become the fourth-largest source market, from sixth previously.
Throughout May, cumulative foreign tourist arrivals totalled 2.35 million.
As a result, the overall number of foreign tourists this week stood at 603,792, up by 83,256 from the previous week, or 15.99%, equivalent to an average of 86,256 foreign tourists entering Thailand per day.
The top five groups of foreign tourists were Malaysian tourists, at 185,721, up 109.53% from the previous week; Chinese tourists, at 81,097, down 4.57%; Indian tourists, at 52,736, down 4.17%; Singaporean tourists, at 22,333, up 32.78%; and Russian tourists, at 17,958, up 7.56%.
For the following week, foreign tourist arrivals are expected to decline, although supporting factors for travel remain, including Thailand’s energy situation returning to normal and prices being adjusted in line with global market conditions, as well as the Trusted Thailand measure to promote the country’s safety image.
