The Thai economy is still on the recovery path and should grow 3.4% this year and 3.8% next year, backed by a resurgence in the vital tourism sector, the Finance minister said on Wednesday.
Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy can withstand global uncertainties, while average inflation should hit 6% this year, Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said at a World Bank event.
Economic growth of 1.5% last year was one of the slowest in the region, and the Thai tourism sector only began to show signs of new growth this year.
From January to december 12, Thailand recorded 10.3 million arrivals of foreign tourists, breaking the target of 10 million for the whole year, Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, told a separate seminar for business.
As the country now receives 60,000 to 70,000 foreign tourists a day, it should close the year with 11.5 million foreign visitors, he said.
For 2023, the tourism service previously said that Thailand could see about 25 million foreign tourists if the Chinese tourists returned.
Thailand saw only 428,000 foreign tourists last year, up from nearly 40 million in the year before the pandemic.
