Chinese tourist arrivals to Thailand continue to nosedive, posting a low for 2025 of 5,833 arrivals on April 16, down from an average of 15,000 to 20,000.

A travel association has called the current trend a crisis, while a former governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand says a reputation management strategy is needed.

The Association of Thai Travel Agents said Thailand is dealing with its worst crisis in the Chinese market in the past several years.

It said the last massive decline was in 2018, following the deadly boat incident in Phuket that left 47 people dead.

As of April 20, the number of Chinese arrivals this year was 1.5 million, followed by Malaysians at 1.4 million and Russians at 835,385, according the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

During the Songkran festival, daily Chinese arrivals rose to 16,000 on April 11, but continued to decline afterwards.

In the period before the kidnapping of Chinese actor Wang Xing, daily arrivals from China rarely dropped below 15,000.