Thailand attracts over 13m int'l tourists so far in 2018

BANGKOK, May 17 (TNA) - More than 13 million international tourists have visited Thailand during the first four months of this year, earning the Kingdom over 730 billion baht. Permanent Secretary for Tourism and Sports Pongpanu Svetarundra told journalists of the update on May 16, stating that the 13.70 million international tourist arrivals in Thailand and the overall tourism-related revenues of about 730.75 billion baht earned by the country during the January-April 2018 period represented an increase of 13.97 per cent year-on-year and 17.55 per cent year-on-year respectively. Pongpanu said for last month alone, the number of international visitors to Thailand stood at about 3.10 million, most of whom, or about 2.15 million, came from East Asia, followed by those from Europe, South Asia, America, Oceania, the Middle East and Africa respectively. The senior official acknowledged that the top 10 countries where their nationals have visited Thailand so far this year include China, Malaysia, Lao PDR, Russia, India, India, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, the United States and the United Kingdom respectively. According to the senior official, the international visitors have spent a total money of about 157.44 billion baht while staying in Thailand, a 12.52 per cent year-on-year increase, with those from China spending the most, followed by those from Russia, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Korea, Japan, India and Germany respectively. (TNA)