The Tourism Authority of Thailand TAT on Sunday said that the countrys Asian tourist arrival in Q1 increased 8 per cent year-on-year with the number of Chinese tourists reaching the highest figure.

Last year, Thailand received nearly 3 million Chinese tourists. This year, up until May, more than 1.5 million Chinese made a trip to the Kingdom, constituting the largest number of entries from a single country.

TATs Deputy Governor of International Marketing, Asia and South Pacific, Sansern Ngaorungsi said the tourist figure from the Asian market from January to April was satisfactory.The number of Chinese travellers ranked first at 1.5 million people for those visiting Thailand, followed by Malaysians and Japanese.

Mr Sansern said the figure of Chinese tourists increased almost 90 per cent year-on-year, while predicting that it could reach 3 million by the year-end.  Meanwhile, the TAT has seen worldwide travellers grow 15 per cent in Q1 to over 8 million people, with Chinese tourists still ranking as the countrys biggest market.

The increasing tourists was seen as a result of Thailands stable internal politics and lack of serious natural disasters. Around up to 25 million foreign travellers are predicted to visit Thailand by the end of the year. MCOT online news

via Asian tourist arrivals increase 8% year-on-year in Q1 | MCOT.net | MCOT.net.

Like unstoppable waves, they keep coming in millions. This may be one of the largest outbound human movements, albeit temporarily, in recent history as Chinese are touring the world en masse. Tourists from China spend their income around the world, but can also raise eyebrows over their lack of social etiquette. Two Chinese women in Thailand share their views on whether their compatriots are a global nuisance or simply misunderstood.

Red the complete story on the Bangkok Post Life http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/family/356625/state-of-influx.