Tourists visit Wat Pho temple in Thailand — Bernama/VNA Photo

BANGKOK —Thailand welcomed more than 29 million foreign tourist arrivals in the first 10 months of this year, generating 1.35 trillion baht (US$39.3 billion) in tourism revenue, according to Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong.

China led in the number of arrivals with over 5.75 million, followed by Malaysia (4.18 million), India (1.72 million), the Republic of Korea (1.53 million), and Russia (1.3 million).

Sorawong said the past week saw a surge in both short- and long-haul tourists.

He said 243,204 long-haul tourists arrived in Thailand over the past week, up 24.85 per cent from the previous week. This is the first time since March that the number of long-haul tourists was more than 200,000, he added.

The minister attributed this surge to the start of the holiday season in Europe, America, and Oceania.

Sorawong added that short-haul tourists rose by 17.72 per cent last week because of long holidays for Diwali in several countries, including India, Malaysia, and Singapore. — VNA/VNS