Thailand’s foreign tourism is rebounding faster than expected and this has helped to put the country’s economic course return to pre-pandemic level by next year said the prime minister.
SE Asia’s second-biggest economy is said to expand around 4.2% in 2023 said Prime Minister in a cabinet meeting.
That would match the pace in both 2017 and 2018, which represent the highest over the past decade, according to data compiled by a leading magazine.
The tourism-reliant nation has eased Covid-related travel curbs, waived visa requirements and relaxed business restrictions to lure international travellers.
Thailand in June also became the first nation in Asia to de-criminalise cannabis to boost medical tourism.
About 6 million foreign visitors are expected this year there could be a tourism boom in the late six months of this year. PM said that number should more than triple to 19 million next year.
“We have so much optimism in our economic outlook as the rebound in international tourism has been much faster than we expected,” said the PM.
Thailand’s retail inflation rate in June jumped 7.66% from a year earlier, a 14-year high, boosted by surging energy costs. For the year, the government forecasts a consumer-price jump of 6.2%. That should decelerate to 2.5% in 2023. The PM continued in a cabinet meeting.
