a day ago
Long holiday benefits Phuket, but visitor numbers down
Tourists spent at least 2.8 billion baht while visiting the southern island of Phuket during the four-day religious holiday weekend just ended, but visitor numbers were down on the same period last year.
July 10 and 11 was a religious holiday, khao phansa, which flowed into the weekend. Many Thais took the opportunity offered by the long holiday to visit the southern province.
According to the Phuket office of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Thai visitors spent about 690 million baht and foreigners 2.2 billion baht over the four days.
May to July is the low tourist season in Phuket, but this year foreign-visitor figures decreased about 10% on the same period in 2024, Suksit Suvunditkul, president of the southern Thai Hotels Association, said on Monday.
The number of Chinese tourists was down by more than half. Numbers from the Middle East were also down, he said, probably because of the conflict in the region.
At Phuket International Airport, arrival and departure numbers were about 15,000 passengers each day, said Kongsak Khoopongsakorn, vice chairman at Phuket Chamber of Commerce. This was higher than in neighbouring provinces, but fewer than last year, Mr Kongsak said.
The busiest spot was Phuket Old Town, while the beaches saw few people due to the inclement weather, Thai PBS TV reported.
