Thailand’s foreign tourist arrivals from January 1 to October 26 declined by 7.25% compared to the same period last year, according to the Tourism and Sports Ministry. During this period, 26.25 million international visitors arrived, with Malaysia as the leading source at 3.8 million visitors, followed closely by China with 3.72 million.
In October, the Bank of Thailand (BoT) lowered its forecast for the total annual foreign arrivals to 33 million from the previous estimate of 35 million. Thailand welcomed nearly 40 million visitors in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
BoT Governor Vitai Ratanakorn stated that Thailand’s economy is expected to improve in the first quarter of 2026 after a slowdown in the second half of 2025. He emphasized the need to address high household debt, with support measures expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, potentially assisting around 2 million people.
The government plans to spend 10 billion baht ($305.34 million) this month to buy bad debt as part of efforts to boost sluggish economic growth. Household debt remains high, accounting for 86.8% of GDP at the end of June—one of the highest levels in Asia, totaling 16.3 trillion baht ($497.71 billion).
The central bank projects Thailand’s economy will grow by 2.2% in 2025 and 1.6% in 2026, following last year’s growth of 2.5%.