THE LIVELY New Year festive season has led to a spike in the total number of inbound travellers to 140,000 a day while the Immigration Bureau is ready to accommodate over 150,000 a day, Thai Rath newspaper said this afternoon (Dec. 30).
Pol. Lt. Gen. Phanumas Boonnalak, commander of the Immigration Bureau, said the five-day New Year break from Dec. 28, 2024 to Jan. 1, 2025 had also increased the number of Thai tourists going abroad. While the average daily overseas departure of Thai holidaymakers reached 30,000 to 40,000 a day in December this doubled to 60,000 a day during Dec. 27-29.
An average of 25,000 Thais have departed from Suvarnabhumi Airport each day followed by 10,000 from Don Muang Airport.
In addition quite a large number of people have opted to travel from Bangkok to Laos by train with there being two round trips a day from Bangkok’s Krungthep Aphiwat Central Station to Vientiane Station (Khamsavad).
This big jump in the number of foreign tourists coming here is a sign of the overall economy improving after Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra declared 2025 the “Amazing Thailand Grand Tourism and Sports Year”, Pol. Lt. Gen. Phanumas said.
Immigration officers at every checkpoint are working hard throughout the festive season with additional officers too deployed to expedite the flow of tourists, he added.
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Tourists heading to Laos. Photo: Thai Rath
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