Over 3.8 MILLION Malaysians Travelled to Thailand in 2023, More Than Any Other Nationalities

Given our close proximity and the ability to travel by land, Thailand has always been a popular tourist destination for Malaysians.

However, it seems that the trend to travel up north to the Land of Smiles has become all the rage among Malaysian travellers and as a result, domestic tourism has allegedly been affected.

Source: 123RF

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Moreover, it’s a popular opinion nowadays to say that it’s more worth it to go to the border town of Hat Yai rather than to Langkawi.

While opinions can change, hard data is a constant and a recent statistic released by Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Ministry confirmed that the country is popular among Malaysians.

Source: Oleksandr Pidvalnyi l Pexels

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Sharing the tourism statistics from 1 January to 12 November 2023, the Ministry revealed that Malaysia tops the list of nationalities of international tourists travelling to the country.

In the first 11 months of this year, a whopping 3,824,445 Malaysians visited Thailand, far ahead of any other nationality.

Source: National Geography

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In second place and trailing almost 1 million behind Malaysia is China with 2,902,462 tourists. Here are the top 5 countries and the number of tourists recorded:

1. Malaysia: 3,824,445
2. China: 2,902,462
3.  South Korea: 1,375,958
4. India: 1,354,712
5. Russia: 1,170,203

Source: ASTRO AWANI

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For comparison, in the whole of 2022, Thailand recorded 1,948,549 tourists from Malaysia, meaning that the country is set to more than double the amount by the end of the year. Remember, the aforementioned statistics are only up until 12 November and December is the peak season for tourists in Thailand.

The Thailand Tourism and Sports Ministry also revealed that tourists from Malaysia increased by 28.65% from the previous week during the Deepavali holidays, whereby 49,919 Malaysian arrivals were recorded.

Source: 123rf

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Overall, from 1 January to 12 November 2023, Thailand welcomed 23,241,338 international tourists and during the period, a revenue of THB981.69 billion or approximately RM129.94 billion was generated for the country.

So, what do you guys think of the statistics? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

Also read: “I know a bit of Thai” – M’sian Family Nearly Gets Kidnapped in Bangkok After Driver’s Suspicious Phone Call