Thailand recorded 19.76 million foreign tourist arrivals between Jan 1 and Aug 15, down 2.91% year on year, generating 957.6 billion baht in spending.

Tourism and Sports Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul said Chinese visitors remained the largest group, with 3.33 million arrivals, followed by Malaysia with 2.49 million and India with 1.45 million.

Russia ranked fourth with 1.14 million visitors, while South Korea recorded 729,000.

For Aug 9-15, Thailand welcomed 612,643 foreign tourists, down 24,126, or 3.79%, from the previous week, averaging 87,520 arrivals a day.

Short-haul visitors fell 1.76% to 413,815, while long-haul arrivals dropped 7.76% to 198,828.

The ministry attributed the slowdown partly to the end of China's summer holidays and Malaysia's preparations for a long weekend. Japanese arrivals, however, rose 13.71%, the minister said.