Thailand's new PM pledges to woo more Chinese tourists

BANGKOK, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's new Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin pledged on Friday to enact measures aimed at boosting the number of Chinese tourists to the country.

The Pheu Thai Party in a statement quoted Srettha as saying during his visit to the tourist island of Phuket that the return of Chinese tourists remains below pre-pandemic levels and stressed the need to ease entry restrictions while enhancing overall confidence in Thailand as a travel destination.

Srettha highlighted the tourism sector as a key driver of economic recovery, particularly in the short term. With the upcoming peak tourist season in a couple of months, he emphasized the importance of collaborative efforts between the government and businesses to prepare for the anticipated influx of visitors.

He also revealed plans to expand airports in popular tourist cities such as Chiang Mai and Phuket, aiming to accommodate the anticipated surge in tourist arrivals.

In a social media post, Srettha set a goal to increase Thailand's tourism revenue from 1.9 trillion baht (about 54 billion U.S. dollars) to 3.3 trillion baht (about 94 billion dollars) by 2024.

According to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the kingdom is on course to meet the whole-year foreign tourist target of 25 million, compared with 11.15 million in 2022.

In 2019, Chinese tourists accounted for about 28 percent of the nearly 40 million foreign tourists to Thailand.