Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand welcomed 1,121,549 international visitors in the first 11 days of 2026, generating an estimated 55.03 billion THB (approximately 1.59 billion USD) in tourism revenue, according to figures released by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports on January 13.
Chinese tourists led weekly arrivals, while the number of visitors from the Republic of Korea jumped by more than 47% compared with the previous week.
The five largest source markets for Thailand during the January 1–11 period were Malaysia with 117,039 arrivals, followed by China (112,204), Russia (109,600), India (77,455) and the Republic of Korea (55,262).
Natreeya Thaveewong, permanent secretary for tourism and sports, noted that Chinese tourists were the largest group for the week, while South Korean arrivals rose by more than 47% from the previous week, moving up to fifth place from eighth.
Overall, during January 5–11, Thailand welcomed 745,158 foreign tourists, up 20,187 or 2.78% from the previous week, an average of 106,451 arrivals per day. The top five source markets during the week were China with 81,863 arrivals, up 24.07% from the previous week; Russia with 67,839, down 3.89%; Malaysia with 66,495, a decrease of 26.49%; India with 52,570, up 8.20%; and the Republic of Korea with 39,327, a sharp rise of 46.70%.
For the following week, foreign arrivals are expected to ease, although supporting factors remain, including the European and US high season and efforts to encourage airlines to increase flight frequencies./.
