The total number of tourists will surpass the target of 28.8 million visitors to 29.5 million, generating 2.2 trillion baht of income to the Kingdom, according to Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul.
When compared to the total number of visitors last year, which was 24.8 million, this year's tourist arrivals will increase by 18.9% and will hit more than 30 million next year.
"It's good news to see this increase in the number of visitors, but we do not want to focus solely on quantity. We want to see more 'quality visitors', the high spenders," she said.
Thailand's goal for next year will be a shift away from focusing on the total number of visitors to the total earnings created by visitors. The minister expects to achieve 2.3 trillion baht in revenue from tourism next year. The figure will rise to 2.5 trillion baht in 2017, she said.
For next year, the minister plans to promote the Kingdom as being a world-class sporting destination through its international sport events and it being the medical hub of ASEAN. It will also kick off maritime tourism and will start with the February event of the Phuket Yacht Show to showcase international sailing boats, with 150 yachts and more than 10 luxury superyachts.
It will continue the "Lady Journey" campaign to encourage working women to travel more and have the chance to learn about Thai charms, including cooking, beauty or even muay Thai.
"We will support the 'Asean Connect' campaign by promoting Thailand as a transportation centre -- by air and land -- to neighbouring countries including Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam," she noted.
The largest group of international arrivals
Visitors from mainland China have been the largest group of international visitors since 2012. The total number of Chinese tourists jumped from 2.7 million in 2012 to 4.6 million last year and might reach 8 million this year.
Last week, the minister held a talk with representatives from China and they agreed to strengthen tourism co-operation. The Chinese government will open its first China National Tourist Office in Thailand while five existing offices of the Tourism Authority of Thailand will roll out more of its coverage to other cities in China. The co-operation also includes the improvement in quality of tour guides, travel agents and safety, promoting new destinations and activities for Chinese tourists.
"Next year two movies that were shot in Thailand will be on screen. One of them is Lost In Thailand Part II so we will welcome more Chinese tourists to Thailand," she noted.
Russia's impact
The total number of Russian tourists has sharply declined by almost half this year due to the country's shrinking economy and the sharp devaluation of the rouble.
Russians have always been the largest group of European visitors to the Kingdom. Last year, 1.6 million Russian visitors arrived in Thailand. However, since January to October this year, only 649,188 Russians flew to the kingdom, down 47% from the same period of last year. It's estimated that the total number of Russian visitors will be much less than one million in 2015.
Pattaya, one of the major attractions for Russian tourists, felt the impact from the decline. The city's Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome looked for solutions. He then tried to promote Pattaya to Thai tourists to encourage them to revisit the city. A series of festivals and special packages were launched along with other international events to paint a new image of Pattaya, with a less of a focus on night entertainment and more of a focus on it being a family and sports destination. In May next year, the Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-Cha, deputy prime ministers and ministers related to economic and national security affairs will visit Russia to mark 120 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The Tourism and Sports minister will also be on board and will try to bring back Russian tourists to the Kingdom.
The worst incident
The incident that has had the most negative impact on the tourism industry this year was the bombing of the Erawan Shrine in Ratchaprasong on Aug 17. The number of international tourists suddenly dropped in the month of September. Tourists from Hong Kong fell by almost 24% from 50,862 in September last year to 38,711 in the same month of this year, followed by Singaporeans, the eighth largest group of visitors to the kingdom.
Hong Kong visitors rank 15th in the list of top visitors to Thailand, but they are high spenders. To gain back confidence from the tourists, the Tourism Authority of Thailand invited two Hong Kong superstars -- Michelle Yim Wai-ling and Simon Yam Tat-wah. They both visited the shrine a month after the event. In October, two international tennis stars, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, also paid their respects to the shrine before their match took place on Oct 2 at the Indoor Stadium Hua Mark.
The luckiest visitor
To encourage more visitors to come to Thailand, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has launched the "Thailand's Luckiest Visitor" campaign. It joins hands with other partners to give a set of gifts to every millionth passenger at major international airports, mostly at Suvarnabhumi airport.
The campaign was kicked off in July with the 13 millionth luckiest visitor who happened to be Vietnamese. The latest announcement two weeks ago was the 28 millionth tourist from India. Every fortunate tourist was awarded with two economy-class return tickets from their original destination to Thailand, a voucher for a five-night stay at a luxury accommodation, a mobile phone with a 4G sim-card and seven-day internet usage and a certificate.
The slum at Phu Thap Boek
The spotlight has been shined on the mountaintop of Phu Thap Boek in Phetchabun where the endless number of cabbage plantations have been gradually replaced by tents and varying degrees of accommodation. Many of the resorts are illegal and unsafe.
Phu Thap Boek is a resettlement area for 3,500 people from the Hmong ethnic group. In 1996, the government gave about 47,000 rai of land to the hilltribe people as a way of tackling communism and improving their living standards. Land must not be transferred. However, resort operators managed to illegally purchase plots of land or built resorts on Phu Thap Boek.
The latest survey of Wang Ban Municipality this month found that 50 buildings must be demolished due to land encroachment and some buildings are unsafe, while 141 lodgings must be repaired.
This overcapacity has also led to increased garbage and a shortage of water. Despite these incidences, thousands of tourists still visit Phu Thap Boek for the cool breeze during long holidays, which creates traffic jams along the hilly road.
The good news (or not)
The announcement on whether Phu Phrabat Historical Park in Udon Thani will or will not be listed as Unesco's new World Heritage Site will come out next May.
The park has been on the tentative list since 2004. It took the National Committee on the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of Thailand 10 years to finally submit a dossier on the park for consideration by Unesco on Jan 27. The confirmation letter was issued on Feb 27 that the park met all of the technical requirements.
Evaluations were conducted between July and September.
The Thai committee has high hopes for the outcome as the historical park has outstanding universal value that fits the criteria for a Unesco World Heritage Site. It also bears evidence of a long-lasting civilisation between the Bronze Age and the Dvaravati, Lop Buri and Lan Chang periods, until the present day.
In addition, the site has an outstanding landscape due to its peculiar rock formations, which are also associated with the beliefs and living traditions of the people from the Northeast.
At present, Thailand has five World Heritage sites including Ban Chiang Archaeological Site, Historical City of Ayutthaya, Historical Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historical Towns, Dong Phrayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex and Thung Yai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries.
New commercial airport
When the two major Don Mueang and Suvarnabhumi airports were overloaded with passengers, U-Tapao came to the rescue.
U-Tapao International Airport launched a full service in November. Run by the Royal Thai Navy, the airport is located in Rayong and is about 150km away from Suvarnabhumi airport. At present, four Thai airlines have offered regular flights. They are Bangkok Airways, Kan Air, Thai AirAsia and Thai Airways.
The government has set aside a 1.4 billion baht budget to expand the facilities of the airport. Within the next two years, a new passenger terminal will be completed. The airport will be able to handle up to 3 million passengers a year, an increase from the present passenger handling capacity which is at 900,000. More airlines are expected to operate their flights from the airport, about an hour's drive to Pattaya beaches.
The reduction of aviation safety
Confidence in Thailand's aviation safety standards has been shaken after the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) conducted its Universal Safety Oversight Audit Programme at the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) in the last two weeks of January.
It found that there was a "significant safety concern" and consequently red flagged Thailand on June 18 as the DCA could not meet ICAO standards for regulating aviation businesses and granting air operator certificates.
The US Federal Aviation Administration also downgraded the country's aviation safety from Category I to II on Dec 1. But before the year end, the government was given some relief as the European Aviation Safety Agency left Thai airlines off its ban list. The government tried to fix the problem. First, it transferred the DCA Chief Somchai Phiphutthawat to the post of ministerial inspector-general in June. The now-defunct DCA was split into two major organisations. One is the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand which will be the regulator of all civil aviation practices. The other one is the Department of Airports which oversees the operations of 28 airports of the DCA.
As for aviation safety, one agency will be founded to be in charge of air accidents and the other agency will be responsible for performing search and rescue operations. Lastly, the government will hire an international aviation consultancy to help raise the standards of its aviation safety.
The longest bike lane
The Department of Rural Roads of the Transport Ministry plans to build the longest bike lane in Southeast Asia next year.
The bike lane will be 184.4 km long. It will start at the Sport Centre of Thammasat University's Rangsit Campus in Pathum Thani on Highway 3214. It will pass Ayutthaya, Ang Thong, Sing Buri and end at Chao Phraya Dam in Chainat. The project will cost 1.5 billion baht and is scheduled to be finished in 2017.
The Countdown with Thainess
Wat Arun, also known as the Temple of Dawn, will for the first time be the New Year countdown location. Instead of broadcasting the countdown in front of shopping malls, the Tourism and Sport Ministry wants Thais and perhaps audiences around the world to see the beauty of Bangkok's landmark.
Located on the bank of the Chao Phraya River, the temple was chosen because it represents the Thai identity, in line with the "Discover Thainess" tourism promotion, according to minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul.
The temple's main pagoda is 82m high and has been under renovation. The scaffolding around the pagoda will be removed for the countdown and reinstalled afterwards. The renovation will be completed next March.