Thailand welcomed more than 6.4 million tourists from nine markets in Southeast Asia during the first eight months of this year, down 9.4% year-on-year amid safety concerns and political instability.
Malaysia led the arrivals with 3 million, followed by Laos and Singapore with 630,000 and 612,000 respectively, Bangkok Post reported.
Indonesia and Vietnam were fourth and fifth largest inbound markets with 550,000 and 482,000 arrivals.
Visitors from Myanmar and the Philippines grew 18.8% and 22.4%.
A series of challenges since the beginning of this year such as the kidnapping of Chinese actor Xing Xing, the deadly earthquake in neighboring Myanmar and border clash with Cambodia have left negative impact on Thai tourism.
The Southeast Asia tourism powerhouse received 22.39 million foreign tourist arrivals from Jan. 1 to Sept. 7, falling by 7.11% from the same period last year, Reuters reported.
In August, Thai state planning agency cut its forecast for foreign tourist arrivals this year to 33 million from 37 million.
Thailand welcomed a record nearly 40 million visitors in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic.
