Tourism News
Thailand tourism news, travel updates, visa policies, and destination highlights—stay informed on hospitality trends, cultural experiences, and major infrastructure projects. Get the latest from The Thaiger, your trusted source for Thailand travel news.
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Sponsored Best weed shops in Chinatown, Bangkok [2025]
Bangkok's Chinatown isn't just for roast duck, gold shops, and neon-lit chaos anymore. Head over to Yaowarat Road and you'll find another kind of smoke drifting through the air. Yes, the weed scene had landed. Loud, proud, and surprisingly stylish....
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Holiday bus tickets escaping Bangkok close to selling out
More than 90% of bus tickets heading out of Bangkok for the holidays on December 28 and 29 had been sold by yesterday evening. Most advance bookings are for travel to Chiang Mai, Nakhon Phanom in the Northeast and Hat Yai in the South. Sanlak Panwatanalikit, managing director of the state transport company, said Thursday that about 55,000 passengers will…
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Bangkok tops list of trending Airbnb destinations this year
Thailand’s capital topped a list of trending Airbnb destinations in 2022. Based on searches made in the first to third quarters of the year for check-ins, Bangkok was the #1 most trending destination for Airbnb guests across the globe. The entire list is as follows: Bangkok, Thailand Sydney, Australia Málaga, Spain Seoul, South Korea Melbourne, Australia Itapema, Brazil Angra dos…
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Thailand welcomes nearly 11 million tourists this year
Tourist arrivals in Thailand could hit the 11 million mark before the year is through, according to the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Yuthasak Supaporn. Between January 1 and December 20, Thailand welcomed 10.9 million tourists from around the world, the governor said this morning. With High Season in full swing, Yuthasak said he expects tourist arrivals…
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Could Thailand’s Southeast Coastal Gem Khanom Be the Next Koh Samui?
The search for the next big resort destination in Thailand is an absolutely big ask. An expansive country with 77 provinces and an amazing array of diverse geographical locations, Instagram-worthy aspects, and distinctly different nuances. Out of this brazen travel chaos, the endearing term ‘same same, but different’ was born and remains highly relevant. Yet, one of the simple truths…
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Chiang Mai’s Dhara Dhevi Hotel goes on sale again
The ill-starred Dhara Dhevi Hotel Chiang Mai will be auctioned yet again this January, with the starting price dropping to 2 billion baht (US$60 million) from the 2.1-billion-baht initial price in the 2021 auction. The first round of the auction will take place at the Chiang Mai Legal Execution Office on January 27. If there is no interest during the…
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AoT app expanding: flight info, taxis, shopping and more
Airports in Thailand are hard at work souping up their travel app in hopes of making it an essential super-app for the incoming flood of tourists. Their “Sawasdee by AoT” app currently provides flight and airport information for people landing at six AoT-run airports. But they plan to add a host of tourism services, to aid the predicted 90 million…
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Thai AirAsia predicts 90% post-pandemic recovery
Thai AirAsia is predicting a great year next year, forecasting passenger load to reach 90% of the levels it was at before the Covid-19 pandemic. The rosy outlook was stated as foreign arrivals have been pouring into Thailand. The popular budget airline also has faith that the mega-demographic of Chinese tourists will be able to rejoin the tourism world next…
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Iconic Bangkok road sees staff shortage as tourists return
An iconic Bangkok road is seeing a staff shortage as tourists return. Bangkok’s Khao San Road, renowned as a hotspot for backpackers, is seeing a comeback in tourism after the Covid-19 pandemic took them down. Now, hotels, bars, and other businesses on the road are almost at pre-pandemic levels. Business operators report that their businesses are back to 90% to…
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Thailand tops BBC poll for Southeast Asia travel
A recent BBC poll saw Thailand on the top of the list of most desired destinations to travel to in Southeast Asia. BBC News conducted a poll of people planning a trip from Europe and North America to Southeast Asia in July. Thailand topped the list with 57.4% of people responding that they would be likely to visit the kingdom.…
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Over 2,000 tourists leave Koh Samui by plane amidst huge waves
Over 2,000 tourists left Koh Samui by plane yesterday amidst the ongoing huge waves wreaking havoc on Thailand’s waters. Waves were up to 4 metres high in the Gulf of Thailand near Koh Samui, Koh Pha Ngan, and Koh Tao. Boats were banned from leaving ports on Koh Samui yesterday, and a total of 2,400 tourists left the island by…
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Thailand to promote tourism to Pattaya in new campaign
Thailand is gearing up to focus on promoting the beach town of Pattaya as part of its new tourism campaign. Known as the country’s “sin city”, it will reportedly be part of the “Amazing Thailand, Amazing New Chapters” campaign put forth by the Tourism Authority of Thailand. Partnering with Tiger Airline, the authority will launch the “Fresh Up Chonburi Family…
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Pheu Thai Party wants to reform tourism, cut red tape
The Pheu Thai Party is calling for reform of the way Thailand approaches tourism, though its focus seems to be the same as the ruling party’s. The opposition party held a brainstorming session on Friday to discuss how to improve tourism in Thailand. They stressed branching out and eliminating outdated red tape, but also put their hope squarely on medical…
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Surat Thani authorities optimistic about tourism as another cruise ship arrives in Koh Samui
Officials in Thailand’s southern province of Surat Thani are remaining optimistic about the recovering tourism sector as another cruise ship arrives around Koh Samui island. As the industry continues to recover after the Covid-19 pandemic, the government is urging businesses to uphold the country’s positive reputation. According to the Pattaya Mail, 31 cruise ships are scheduled to arrive in Koh…
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Tourist police warn travellers of Thai scams
Spiderman’s uncle once said, “With great tourism, comes great scamability.” We might be paraphrasing a bit, but as Thailand is welcoming international tourists once again pouring into the country, the tourist police are warning that perhaps not-so-welcomed scammers are also returning to prey on fresh foreign victims. The commissioner of the Tourist Police Bureau says that they are increasing police presence…
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Battle lines drawn in Koh Lipe turf war
Thailand’s human rights commission (NHRC) is calling for the government to take urgent action in the Koh Lipe turf war to help sea gypsies living on the island in Satun province. The Moken are a semi-nomadic tribe that lives in Thai coastal provinces and inhabits over 800 islands in the Andaman Sea. They number less than 3,000 people. The Moken have…
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Field of cosmos flowers open to tourists to central Thailand province
Flower lovers have yet another attraction to see in Thailand, as flowers continue to bloom during the winter season. A field of cosmos flowers is open to tourists in the main city district of Lop Buri province in central Thailand. A Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) director’s office in the province brought a group of people to admire the purple,…
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Phuket hotels see labour shortages as tourism swells
Maybe hoteliers didn’t believe in the government’s rosy tourism predictions. Hotels in Phuket are reporting a labour shortage as Russian tourists pour into the holiday island. Now they are rallying the government to market hospitality jobs in Phuket to attract foreign workers. They say Thai people just don’t want maintenance, kitchen, and food and beverage jobs. The president of the…
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Russians still biggest tourist group in Phuket, peak expected during holidays
Russians remain Phuket’s biggest tourist group, and the island resort’s tourism is expected to peak during the holidays, according to the president of the Southern Thai Hotels Association, Sueksit Suwannadissakun, who believes the peak of tourism High Season will be between December 24 to January 5. About 57% of hotels in the island province reopened in October, jumping to 70%…
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Survey reveals most popular things to do for tourists in Thailand
Thailand’s Tourism Authority says a recent survey has revealed the most popular things for tourists to do when visiting Thailand. The survey showed that an overwhelming majority of respondents said that eating Thai food was at the top of their lists, with almost 91% choosing it as their favourite thing to do. Although this doesn’t come as a surprise to…
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Trance music festival coming up in Pattaya next year
An exciting trance music festival is coming up in Pattaya next year. The ‘Unkonscious Festival’ will be held from February 7-10, 2023, according to a post on the event’s Facebook page. The festival will bring attendees back to the trance scene of the 90s and is said to be the biggest trance festival in Asia. The lineup is as follows:…
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An Azur Air flight circles Phuket for hours, then aborts
An Azur Air flight intended for Russia never made and no one is saying why. The flight took off toward Novosibirsk after a five-hour delay but never made it past the Andaman Sea. It circled for hours and ended up back in Phuket leaving about 200 passengers stranded. Azur Air flight ZF3750 was supposed to depart at 3.50pm yesterday toward…
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Transport officials expect tens of thousands of bus travellers in Thailand during three-day weekend.
Transport officials expect tens of thousands of domestic bus travellers in Thailand during the three-day weekend from December 10-12. The managing director of the state-run Transport Co Ltd., Sanyalak Panwattanalikhit, said the company has about 3,000 trips to facilitate during these days. Sanyalak said that over 227,386 people travelled during the last long weekend from December 2-5, for Thai Father’s Day.…
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‘Pattaya Coffee on the Beach’ festival coming up tomorrow
Pattaya coffee enthusiasts have a special treat coming up tomorrow. The Pattaya Coffee on the Beach Festival 2022 will be held from December 10-11, Saturday to Sunday, on North Pattaya Beach. The festival will be held from 8am to 8pm each day, The Pattaya News reported. The festival is set to include over 60 cafes, food stalls, and activities on…
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Thai travel agent group says travel restrictions hamper tourism growth
The Thai Travel Agents Association is recognising some countries’ travel restrictions as hampering tourism growth. Charoen Wangananont, president of the TTAA, says that outbound tourism in the last two months of this year remains strong despite concerns about an economic recession. Such outbound tourism is holding steady, particularly to those destinations that currently have no travel restrictions. According to Bangkok…
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Thailand to celebrate its 10 millionth tourist on December 10
Thailand expects to hit the 10 million tourist target on December 10 and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha is urging the nation’s airlines to add more flights to meet the growing demand. The Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Yuthasak Supasorn, reported the good news yesterday. From January to December 5 of this year Thailand welcomed more than nine…
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Disruptive Phuket-bound passenger thrown off flight in Karachi
A disruptive Phuket-bound passenger on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul was thrown off the aircraft yesterday and arrested after the flight diverted to Pakistan’s Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. After the passenger was taken into custody by local law enforcement, the flight continued to Phuket. Turkish Airlines flight TK-172 on an Airbus A330 diverted to Karachi three hours into the…
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Air Canada’s Vancouver-Bangkok flight touches down Thailand
Air Canada’s Vancouver-Bangkok flight touched down in the Kingdom of Thailand early this morning and, for the first time in 10 years, there is a nonstop flight between North America and Thailand. On December 1 at 11pm local time, the Air Canada Boeing 787 Dreamliner AC65 took off from Vancouver International Airport to begin its 15-hour and 55-minute journey to…
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Phuket welcomes 6,730 flights in December
High season has arrived in Phuket, as the airport schedule lists 6,730 flights this month. The average number of flights per day throughout the month of December will reach 217, up from about 200 in November. (The busiest day in November saw 219 flight land with 10,467 passengers arriving.) Some 3,000 of those flights are international arrivals, while 3,730 flights…
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Bangkok airport expansion prepares for bidding war
Bidding will open next year on Bangkok’s airport expansion at Suvarnabhumi International and Don Mueang International, according to Thailand’s transport minister Saksayam Chidchob. The expansions are needed to meet rising demand since Thailand dropped COVID entry restrictions on October 1 this year. Some 3 million passengers used Thai airports in October, compared with average monthly traffic of about 1.2 million…
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Phuket flight cancellation due to earlier cancelled flight, runway maintenance
After pandemonium at Phuket International Airport on Thursday night with a flight cancellation stranding 300 passengers overnight, airport and tourism authorities say they’re more prepared and it won’t happen again. It all started when budget airline Thai VietJet cancelled a flight from Phuket to Bangkok minutes before take-off last night because staff couldn’t find a seat for one passenger. But…
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