Thailand | Destinations in Thailand suffer: Beaches half full, hotels half empty

Khun Charlie Golf looks to the future with some concern. The 33-year-old is a freelance driver in Chiang Mai. His target audience are tourists who want to visit waterfalls, forests, elephant camps , and settlements of hill tribes like the Karen. Charlie Golf is not only familiar with the area, but also very familiar with northern Thailand's stories and anecdotes. And he speaks perfect English, which is by no means a given in Thailand. But the number of tourists is dwindling. "Chinese tourists aren't that important for my service. They're mostly package tourists," says Golf. "But there are fewer Western individual tourists either," laments the young man.

Tourists stay away

For a long time, Thailand relied on the masses from China as its most important market. But this abruptly ended last year. The reason was news of Chinese people being kidnapped by human traffickers in Thailand for forced labor in online fraud centers in Myanmar. This shattered Chinese confidence in Thailand as a safe travel destination. Chinese tour operators removed Thailand from their programs en masse.

The author of these lines can contribute his own observations to Golf's complaints. In July, Chiang Mai was – to put it somewhat exaggeratedly – ​​empty. Although the summer months are rather off-season, a year earlier, many more tourists had flocked to the numerous temples of Thailand's second-largest city and its mountainous and forested surroundings.

Thailand's tourism industry is in a deep crisis. The reasons for this are numerous and complex. One is the Thai mentality. Once you've discovered a lucrative business model, you stick with it. Changes, developments, or even modernizations only happen when absolutely necessary, and then only when absolutely necessary. Hotels, for example, often like to slap a modern facade on their walls while everything inside remains "same, same."

From boom to construction sites

For decades, Thailand's sunny beaches were, alongside Bali, the only tourist destinations in Southeast Asia. For a long time, however, the kingdom's tourism experts ignored new developments. Neighboring countries like Cambodia and Vietnam opened up to tourism. Singapore massively expanded its tourism industry. The new competition fulfilled vacationers' desires and longings for new experiences. Thailand, however, stoically focused on a few destinations like Pattaya, Phuket, Koh Samui, or Krabi, transforming these former tropical paradises into metropolises with beaches through unbridled construction.

Then the crisis struck. First in the form of the COVID-19 lockdown. Tourism collapsed. After an initial recovery following the end of the coronavirus pandemic, Thailand's tourism industry is now in decline. While 35.5 million travelers visited the kingdom, often referred to as the "Land of Smiles," in 2024, by mid-2025 that number had already fallen by 6.5 percent. The goal of reaching and exceeding the 40 million visitors per year of the pre-COVID era has become illusory.

This isn't because climate-conscious people aren't flying around in such large numbers or because they're preferring to hold on to their money due to the world's diverse crises. Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam are enjoying steadily rising visitor numbers. Malaysia even recorded more arrivals than its neighbor Thailand for the first time this year.

The mini-war between Cambodia and Thailand has damaged confidence in Thailand as a safe holiday destination, as has the attack on two South Korean tourists in Bangkok. The couple was unexpectedly doused with flammable liquid and set on fire by a stranger in early August. This horrific act is certainly an isolated incident, but it made headlines around the world.

Politics in a continuous loop

Far more serious is the renewed political crisis in Thailand, the umpteenth since a period of turmoil marked by coups, new constitutions, and numerous early elections over the past two decades. Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was removed from office by the Constitutional Court at the end of August because of her handling of the border conflict with Cambodia and her disparaging remarks about the powerful military. On September 5, Parliament elected Anutin Charnvirakul of the Bhumjaithai Party—the third-largest party in the House of Representatives—as the new head of government.

Anutin was supported by the reformist "People's Party." Although it represents the largest parliamentary group, it was prevented from taking government after the 2023 elections by the conservative elite. The "People's Party" has ruled out a coalition. Anutin thus heads a minority government whose primary task is to calm the political situation in the country, instill confidence in the sluggish economy, and pave the way for new elections and possibly a new constitution—the 21st since 1932—within four months – a condition of the "People's Party."

For decades, Thailand's sunny beaches were the only tourist destination in Southeast Asia besides Bali.

Anyone familiar with Thailand knows that Anutin is meant to square the circle. The upcoming election campaign, with expected demonstrations from all political camps, will therefore coincide with the peak tourist season between November and the end of January and the Chinese New Year – a peak travel period for Asian tourists – in mid-February 2026.

Tourism, accounting for approximately 20 percent of gross domestic product before COVID and a more modest 15 percent in 2023/24, is a key pillar of Thailand's economy and the most important source of foreign currency. Above all, the travel industry provides jobs and livelihoods for many Thais. Before COVID, six million Thais were directly or indirectly employed in the tourism industry. This represented 16 percent of the country's total employment.

Thailand is currently trying, largely in vain, to boost tourism with short-term measures. The government's "supplementary payment program" for Thais traveling within the country, launched in July 2025, has not met with the desired response. In mid-August, the Ministry of Tourism announced its intention to provide 200,000 international tourists with free domestic flight tickets upon arrival. Also in August, the Ministry of Finance launched an 18-month pilot program that will allow foreign visitors to exchange cryptocurrencies for baht for local payments.

A perennial theme in Thai tourism crises is once again the announcement by the Tourism Authority (TAT) that it intends to focus its marketing on affluent tourists, primarily from Europe and the Middle East. With a new "Trusted Thailand" seal of international trust, Thailand aims to present itself as a "safe, reliable, and welcoming destination." However, experts unanimously lament the lack of a long-term plan for structural reforms.

Reforms only on paper

For several years, the well-traveled Hajo Hoke has enjoyed visiting Thailand. The retiree from Cologne systematically explores the country by taking buses and trains. This is the best way to get to know the country, its people, and everyday life in the holiday destination. He last visited Thailand in February of this year. "I'm often the only foreigner," Hoke says, adding: "Superficially, as a tourist, you don't notice the crisis. But owners of small shops or food stalls tell us how badly their business is suffering due to the decline in tourism." However, the passionate cyclist Hoke isn't deterred by these problems from considering Thailand as a place to spend the winter in Germany during the cold season. "That's why I often travel to Thailand to get to know the country and its culture better before making such a decision."

Thailand has also made headlines in recent years with progressive policies. Cannabis was legalized in 2022—albeit under unclear conditions. While the failed Paetongtarn government reversed legalization this year, Anutin, the most ardent advocate of cannabis legalization, is now in government. For the time being, the sweet scent of Thai-grown marijuana continues to waft through the streets of Bangkok. The introduction of equal marriage last year reinforced Thailand's reputation as a liberal country for queer people.

And so the kingdom still has a unique tourist selling point: If you don't want crowded beaches and old facades, you can at least marry liberally in Thailand – and then think about the country's future over a joint.