Thailand tourism: New record set in 2012
published : 28 Jan 2013 at 20:15
writer: Jon Fernquest
China, Malaysia, Russia, Japan, Korea, UK & Germany top visitor list. Year free of things that hurt tourism: street protests, floods, bird flu scares, tsunamis....

The beach resort of Pattaya which is only a couple of hours from Bangkok and Suvarnbhumi airport (Source: Wikipedia).
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Breakingnews
Tourist arrivals at record 22 million
28 Jan 2013
More than 22 million tourists visited Thailand last year, up nearly 16% year-on-year, setting a new record for the kingdom, according to figures released Monday.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports said 22.3 foreigners visited Thailand in 2012, with the Chinese (2.7 million) just topping Malaysians (2.5 million), followed by Russians (1.3 million), Japanese (1.3 million), Koreans (1.1 million), British (870,164) and Germans (681,566).
"Last year, the world was generally at peace and there were no major geopolitical, economic, environmental or natural disasters and no health pandemics,'' Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Suraphon Svetasreni said on Monday.
Last year was also relatively sedate for Thailand, which has witnessed political conflicts over the past six years resulting in street demonstrations in Bangkok and periodic heavy flooding.
Tourism is Thailand's leading source of foreign exchange.
The tourism authority projects there will be approximately 24.5 million tourists in 2013.
(Source: Bangkok Post, Breakingnews, Tourist arrivals at record 22 million, 28 Jan 2013, link)
Tourism Vocabulary
tourist arrivals - the count and statistic of how many tourists entered the country (during a month or year) (a measure of how well the tourism business did)
thailand tourist arrivals
record - the best or most ever achieved สถิติ
tourist arrivals at record 22 million
set a new record
More than 22 million tourists visited Thailand last year setting a new record for the kingdom
exceed - to be greater than a number or amount เกินปริมาณ เกินกว่าที่กำหนด
thailand tourist arrivals exceed 22 million for first time
year-on-year - one period this year (month, quarter, etc) compared to the same period last year
up nearly 16% year-on-year
release - make available to the public
figures - statistics, numbers describing the economy
release figures - to make numbers and information about the economy available to the public
according to figures released Monday
generally - most of time or in most cases ส่วนมาก,โดยทั่วไป, โดยปกติ
last year, the world was generally at peace
disaster - an big event such as an earthquake or tsunami that causes injury, death and damage to property ความหายนะ, ความพินาศ, ความวินาศ
natural - found in nature (not made in a factory by humans) ตามธรรมชาติ
natural disaster - a big event such a flood, severe weather, volcanic eruptions or earthquake that causes loss of life or property damage (See Wikipedia)
geopolitical - how a country's location on the map, economy and population influences politics and history
geopolitical disaster - an event such as a border conflict between two countries
economic disaster - usually called a "crisis" (See Wikipedia)
environmental disaster - "a disaster to the natural environment due to human activity ... the impact of humans' alteration of the ecosystem has led to widespread and/or long-lasting consequences...can include the deaths of animals (including humans) and plants, or severe disruption of human life, possibly requiring migration... have an effect on agriculture, biodiversity, the economy and human health. The causes include pollution, depletion of natural resources, industrial activity or agriculture" (See Wikipedia)
pandemic - a disease that affects almost everyone in a very large area
there were no major geopolitical, economic, environmental or natural disasters and no health pandemics
conflicts - disagreements and fighting between people or groups ความขัดแย้ง
sedate - slow and quiet, not attracting attention of people, not shocking ช้า, เงียบสงบ
relatively - not much when compared to others, comparatively not much
relatively sedate
last year was also relatively sedate for Thailand - meaning: other years have had a lot more political conflict
conflict - a fight or disagreement about something การต่อสู้, ความขัดแย้ง
political conflict - a fight about some politic issue
witness - to see something happen เป็นพยาน
witnessed political conflicts
Thailand has witnessed political conflicts over the past six years
X resulted in Y - X caused Y (in the end, after a series of steps or events)
demonstration - a protest การประท้วง
resulted in street demonstrations
periodic - things that happen again and again, many times, after a period of time has passed, recurrent ซึ่งเป็นช่วงเวลา
periodic heavy flooding
the political conflicts resulted in street demonstrations in Bangkok and periodic heavy flooding.
foreign exchange - money from other countries (that a country gets by exchanging their own money (or currency) for it) เงินตราต่างประเทศ
source - the place or person something comes from or starts at, or the cause of something ต้นกำเนิด, แหล่งกำเนิด
leading source - the most important place where foreign currency comes from
leading source of foreign exchange
Tourism is Thailand's leading source of foreign exchange.
tourism authority - the government agency in charge of tourism in the country
tourism authority projects
The tourism authority projects there will be approximately 24.5 million tourists in 2013.