The number of tourists arriving in Thailand dropped by 10.28% to 17.55 million in the first nine months of 2014 compared to the same period last year, according to the Tourism Department.
Department director-general Anuphap Kesornsuwan said tourism generated around 806 billion baht in revenue over the nine-month period, down 7.55% year-on-year.
Inbound tourist numbers in September were 1.85 million, down 7% from the same month in 2013. The situation had improved from August when arrivals dropped by 11.85% and was much improved from the largest drop in June at 24.37%.
He said the figure showed indications of a recovery moving into the high season, particularly in the Asian market that accounted to almost two-thirds of overall visitors.
The five main sources of tourists in September were China at 426,000 visitors (down 6.29%), Malaysia at 228,000 (down 1.37%), Japan 109,000 (down 18.96%), Korea 81,000 (down 13.13%) and Singapore 78,000 (up 3.04%).