BANGKOK, July 18 — Thailand’s tourism industry received 14.15 million foreign visitors and collected 588 billion baht in revenue from January 1 to July 16 this year, stated the Tourism and Sports Ministry.

Malaysians accounted for the top five foreign visitors to the country, with 2.24 million, followed by Chinese (1.65 million), South Korean (830,576), Indian (826,390), and Russian (825,777) tourists.

"The ministry forecasts that the number of foreign visitors to Thailand will exceed 15 million by the end of July, with the number of tourist arrivals increasing after school holidays in many regions,” it said in a statement.

In the meantime, income from the tourist industry in Thailand is anticipated to reach 3 trillion baht in 2024.

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Deputy Governor for Domestic Marketing, Thapanee Kiatphaibool said the agency expects to welcome 35 million foreign tourists and encourage 200 million domestic trips next year.

"With the carefully planned 2024 strategic direction, TAT has set an overall revenue target in the best-case scenario of 3 trillion baht which includes 1.92 trillion baht from international tourism and 1.08 trillion baht from domestic tourism,” she said in a statement.

TAT has lowered the target for international tourism from an earlier 2.29 trillion baht to 1.92 trillion baht as inflation, recession, interest rate hikes, surging fuel prices, and the slow resumption of international flights have hampered the tourism industry. — Bernama