Asian tourists visiting Thailand up sharply

BANGKOK, June 23 (TNA) - The number of Asian tourists visiting Thailand during the first four months this year rose satisfactorily, up 8 per cent from the corresponding period of 2012, said Sansern Ngaorungsi, deputy governor of Tourism Authority of Thailand. During the period, Chinese tourists ranked first among Asian tourists visiting the kingdom followed by Malaysians and Japanese, Mr. Sansern said. About 1.5 million Chinese visited Thailand between January and April this year, up nearly 90 per cent from the same period last year, he said. It is projected that approximately three million Chinese would visit the kingdom during the calendar 2013, said Mr. Sansern. It is expected that between 24 to 25 million foreign tourists would visit Thailand this year due to sound politics and fine weather, he added. (TNA)