The chief of the Bank of Thailand says, "Foreign tourist numbers would take several years to return to 40 million levels." The BoT says a "lucrative industry" that provides a lot of jobs has been heavily affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
This year, the BoT expects only 8 million foreign visitors, down 80 per cent from the record of 39.8 million last year. Most of those visited Thailand before the lockdowns and border closures in March this year.
According to BoT Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob, the BoT also reports that loans in the country will need to increase but "new steps should prevent them from surging."
Whilst Thailand’s tourism industry has recovered from an array of critical hits on tourist traffic over the past few decades – the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, the financial crash of 2008, coup to oust the Thaksin government in 2006, Phuket boat disaster in 2018, military coup of 2014 – it always seems to recover bigger and better from the tourism challenges. The rise and increase in tourism numbers in Thailand over 30 years, despite the problems, has earned the Kingdom's "teflon tourism" tourism sector.
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