Foreign visitors spent THB1.24 trillion in Thailand from January to October 2026, down 2.85% year on year. Arrivals from China rose 12.44% to 4.24 million.
In the first 10 months of 2026, Thailand received 25.46 million international tourists, a 4.59% decrease from the previous year, with visitor spending also falling by 2.85%.
The overall drop occurred despite a 12.44% increase in arrivals from China, which remained Thailand's largest tourism market with 4.24 million visitors.
Significant declines from other key markets contributed to the fall, including Malaysia (-16.34%) and South Korea, which saw the steepest drop among the top 10 at -26.86%.
Thailand recorded 25,464,306 international tourist arrivals in the first 10 months of 2026, down 4.59% from a year earlier, according to Tourism and Sports Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul. Spending by foreign visitors fell 2.85% to THB1.24 trillion over the same period.
China remained Thailand’s largest source of tourists from January 1 to October 31. Arrivals from China rose 12.44% to 4.24 million, while those from Malaysia, the second-largest market, fell 16.34% to 3.23 million. Taiwan and the United States were the only other top 10 markets to record growth. South Korea saw the steepest decline among the 10, at 26.86%.
Thailand’s 10 largest tourism markets, January–October 2026
Long-haul arrivals rise for a fifth week
Thailand received 538,661 international tourists from October 25 to 31, an average of 76,952 a day. That was 36,696 more than the previous week, a rise of 7.31%.
Long-haul arrivals rose 13.6% to 227,153, their fifth consecutive weekly increase, as travel from Russia and the United States picked up ahead of the winter holiday season. Short-haul arrivals rose 3.14% to 311,508 as travel resumed after a lull. Arrivals from India fell 14.98% following Maha Navami and the Navaratri festival.
Malaysia supplied the most visitors in the final week of October, ahead of China and Russia.
France dropped from 11th to 16th place in the weekly ranking as arrivals fell 18.68%, a decline the ministry attributed to protests in France.
The ministry expected long-haul arrivals to rise further during November 1–7 as the winter holiday season began. It identified protests in Europe and flight cuts on some routes, particularly from Russia, as factors that could affect travel to Thailand.
