According to the results of a poll conducted by the famous travel website Travel & Leisure, Thailand's capital Bangkok has become the top destination in the list of top 10 cities in Southeast Asia chosen by tourists.
According to the website travelandleisure.com, there are countless reasons why Bangkok maintains its position as the most visited city in the world and this city is gradually returning to its position before the Covid-19 pandemic.
In this year's Travel & Leisure list, the two Thai islands of Phuket and Samui were also included in the list of "Best Islands in Southeast Asia".
Bangkok was chosen as the top tourist city in Southeast Asia.
Thai government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said on July 4 that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was delighted to receive the news that several Thai tourist destinations won top positions in Travel & Leisure's rankings.
Following Bangkok in the list of Best Tourist Cities in Southeast Asia 2022 are Singapore, Da Nang (Vietnam), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Hanoi (Vietnam), Chiang Mai (Thailand), Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (China), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Phnom Penh (Cambodia) and Jakarta (Indonesia).
In the category of Best Tourist Islands in Southeast Asia 2022, Phuket and Samui took the top two positions.
Next are the islands of Bali (Indonesia), Phu Quoc (Vietnam), Langkawi (Malaysia), Lombok (Indonesia), Palawan (Philippines), Penang (Malaysia), Phiphi (Thailand) and Con Dao (Vietnam).
According to Mr. Thanakorn, Phuket Island has beautiful beaches and attractive tourist facilities, which are ideal for families and groups to visit. The old town on the island also creates an attraction for tourists.
In 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, Thailand welcomed nearly 40 million international tourists.
The tourism industry contributed 3 trillion baht (about 84.11 billion USD) to the Thai economy in 2019, accounting for 18% of the country's GDP, of which 2 trillion baht came from foreign tourists (accounting for 12% of GDP) and 1 trillion baht from domestic tourism (accounting for 6% of GDP).
Thailand hopes to attract more than 9 million international tourists and generate revenue of 1,270 billion baht (US$35.7 billion) in 2022.
