by Aaron Chin
SHANGHAI—Thailand’s white sand beaches and tropical sunshine remain unchanged, but its tourism industry has yet to fully recover from the twin shocks of the pandemic and mounting safety concerns. Over the past year, repeated reports of Chinese tourists being abducted in Thailand and trafficked to telecom scam operations in Myanmar have sparked public anxiety and undermined confidence among Asian travelers. The damage to Thailand’s core Asian tourism market has been substantial, prompting the government to roll out a range of stimulus measures aimed at repairing its battered international image.
According to official Thai data, only 1.95 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand in the first five months of 2025, a year-on-year drop of 33%. As China has long been Thailand’s largest source of foreign visitors, the sharp decline has had a broad impact—most visibly in hotel occupancy rates and air passenger traffic. Figures from the Thai Hotels Association show nationwide occupancy fell from 63% in April to 52% in May. Many in the industry attribute this drop largely to the absence of Chinese travelers.
Looking more broadly, the number of visitors from across Asia has declined nearly 11% compared with the same period last year. In contrast, arrivals from the U.S. and Europe have continued to rise. Between January and May, arrivals from the U.S. reached 625,000, up 12% year-on-year, while European tourists surpassed 3 million, marking a nearly 20% increase. The popularity of HBO’s The White Lotus: Season 3, set in Thailand, may have boosted the country’s appeal in Western markets. But for Asian travelers—who tend to place greater emphasis on safety—such cultural draws have done little to offset lingering concerns about personal security.
“We failed to adequately address our negative image, and as a result, many tourists have shifted to other Asian destinations,” said Rachaporn Phoonphonkit, vice president of the Thai Tourism Council. He added that although the tourism industry remains resilient, a full recovery will require time and coordinated, structural efforts.
In response, the Thai government has launched a large-scale campaign to revive tourism. At the end of May, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin convened a high-level meeting on tourism and introduced five “national-level” initiatives focused on security, convenience, promotion, infrastructure, and event design. The most closely watched among them is the plan to enhance safety—by deploying AI surveillance systems in tourist areas, increasing police presence, cracking down on criminal groups, and installing more security cameras—measures intended to reassure the public and improve tourist safety.
On the fiscal side, authorities are also pouring in resources. The Ministry of Tourism and Sports recently unveiled a 13.3 billion baht ($400 million) stimulus package that includes flight subsidies, support for online travel platforms, and incentives for domestic travel. Of this, 350 million baht is earmarked specifically for a China-focused initiative that aims to attract 140,000 visitors from 15 second-tier Chinese cities.
Still, a shortage of available flights remains a major bottleneck. Tanes Petsuwan, deputy governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said the limited number of flights is hindering growth from China and other international markets. To address the problem, the government is working with airlines to increase flight capacity and has introduced a fare cap policy for low-cost carriers to improve transportation infrastructure.
Despite facing multiple headwinds, the Thai government is clearly striving to restore the country's tourism brand through a coordinated set of actions. In an increasingly competitive Asian travel landscape, Thailand’s path to recovery won’t be easy. But its proactive policy push sends a clear signal: this Southeast Asian nation is working hard to emerge from the shadows and restart a vital engine of its economy.