Thailand's Tourism and Sports Minister, Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol, announced that the country welcomed the highest number of international tourists among ASEAN nations last year, with 28.09 million visitors. This marked an increase of 11.06 million tourists compared to 2022, representing a significant surge of 153.94%.

Presenting the ASEAN tourism statistics for 2023 at the 27th Meeting of ASEAN Tourism Ministers in Vieantiane, Lao PDR on Thursday (25 January), Sudawan revealed remarkable growth in tourist arrivals for Vietnam, which saw an increase of 12.06 million visitors, soaring by 344.2% from 3.66 million in 2022. Additionally, other ASEAN countries experienced a surge in international tourists in 2023 compared to the previous year, with Singapore welcoming 12.37 million visitors (a 130% increase), Cambodia with 5.45 million tourists (a 139.5% increase), the Philippines with 5.45 million arrivals (a 105.38% increase), and Brunei hosting 82,109 tourists (a 345.61% increase).

Overall, ASEAN countries collectively witnessed a 153% increase in international tourism last year compared to 2022, attributed to the success of two promotional tourism campaigns launched jointly by ASEAN member nations.

Interestingly, Thailand surpassed Malaysia as the ASEAN country with the highest number of international tourist arrivals in 2023. Notably, despite Malaysia recording 26 million global tourist arrivals from January to November 2023, which was 1.4 million more than Thailand during the same period, Thailand still claimed the top spot.

However, it's important to note that the majority of the 28.09 million arrivals in Thailand were Malaysian tourists, with 4,626,422 Malaysian visitors recorded for 2023, making up approximately 16% of the total global tourist arrivals in Thailand, followed by China with 3,521,095 visitors.

While Thailand's achievement is significant, it's prudent to consider that Malaysia has not yet released official tourism statistics for the entirety of 2023. Hence, the claim of Thailand overtaking Malaysia in tourist arrivals should be approached with caution.

What are your thoughts on Thailand's milestone of hosting 28.09 million international tourists last year and the overall increase in global tourism in ASEAN? Share your opinions with us in the comments!