Thailand reportedly welcomed over 3 million foreign tourists in August amid growth in global tourism, with Chinese travellers leading other nationalities in arrivals.

Thai Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports Pongpanu Svetarundra revealed that most foreign tourists came from East Asia, followed by Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, the Americas, Oceania, and Africa.

The number of tourists rose by 8.66 percent compared to the same period last year.

China took the lead in the number of tourist arrivals to Thailand during the month, followed by Malaysia and the Republic of Korea.

Travellers from the three countries generated over 163 billion THB in revenue, an increase of 11.72 percent year-on-year. The top spenders were from China, the Republic of Korea, and Japan.

In the first eight months of this year, over 23 million tourists visited Thailand, generating over 1.7 trillion THB.

Pongpanu noted that despite strong growth in global tourism, competition for tourists has risen as well.