BANGKOK - Thailand recorded 19.76 million international tourist arrivals from Jan. 1 through Aug. 15, down 2.91% year on year, preliminary government data showed.

Estimated spending by foreign tourists reached THB957.62 billion over the period, according to an Aug. 18 update from the Tourism Economics and Sports Division, part of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

The ministry’s weekly cumulative series excludes arrivals and revenue for June 22–25 in both 2026 and the comparable 2025 period because of a disruption to its tourism-statistics collection system.

The latest figures indicate a modest narrowing of the year-on-year decline during August. Thailand had recorded 18,510,243 international arrivals through Aug. 1, down 3.19% from a year earlier, before the total increased to 19,147,012 through Aug. 8, when the decline stood at 2.93%.

Estimated tourist spending reached THB927.697 billion at the Aug. 8 cut-off.

China remained Thailand’s largest cumulative source market as of Aug. 8, with 3,207,071 arrivals, followed by Malaysia with 2,436,782 and India with 1,415,649. Russia contributed 1,120,755 visitors and South Korea 703,509, keeping the same five countries at the top of the cumulative rankings.

The 19.76 million arrivals recorded through Aug. 15 amount to just under 60% of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s June expectation of 33 million international arrivals in 2026. TAT also projected THB2.65 trillion in combined domestic and international tourism revenue for the year as it pursued a strategy focused on higher-value tourism rather than visitor volume alone.

Tourism nevertheless remained a softer part of the economy during the second quarter. The Bank of Thailand said foreign tourist arrivals, tourism receipts and tourism-related services declined in the April-June period, alongside higher energy prices and travel disruptions linked to conflict in the Middle East.

A Reuters poll published Aug. 13 likewise noted that arrivals were still down year on year at the beginning of August.

Krungthai Bank economist Chamadanai Marknual cited geopolitical uncertainty, higher travel costs and weaker purchasing power in some major source markets, adding: “Tourism was a weaker contributor to Q2 growth.”