Thailand's foreign tourist arrivals down 3.2% on year so far in 2026

A tourist wearing Thai traditional dresses uses a parasole to shield from the sun at Wat Arun, or the Temple of Dawn, on April 27. (Photo: Varuth Hirunyatheb)

Thailand's ​foreign ​tourist arrivals ‌dropped 3.19% year-on-year in the Jan ​1 to Aug 1 period ‌to 18.51 million visitors, the Tourism and Sports Ministry said on Monday.

Tourism, a key ​driver of Southeast ​Asia's second-largest economy, ‌had a record ​of nearly 40 million visitors in 2019, before the pandemic.