Speaking at a briefing on January 27, head of the ministry’s fiscal police office Pornchai Thiraveja said that Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy expanded by 3.0% in 2022, lower than a previous forecast of 3.4% as its exports, public investment, and private consumption slowed down.
In 2021, Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 1.5%, among the lowest rate in the region.
The figure for last year is expected to be released next month.
Tourism is an important industry that greatly contributed to the country’s GDP growth with 11.15 million foreign arrivals visiting Thailand last year.
Pornchai said that the country expects to welcome 27.5 million foreign visitors this year, up from 21.5 million projected earlier, thanks to China’s reopening.
In 2019, Thailand attracted nearly 40 million foreign visitors who spent 1.91 trillion baht (58.14 billion USD ) in the country.
