Chinese tourists visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, in Bangkok, Thailand, on February 7, 2023. Photo: IC

The number of Chinese visitor arrivals in Thailand could reach 4 million this year, boosted by measures including a visa-free policy and closer cooperation with Chinese companies, Thapanee Kiatphaibool, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), told the Global Times on Thursday.

Kiatphaibool made the comments at a press conference where the TAT signed a letter of intent for strategic agreements with a number of Chinese companies, including Ant Group, Trip.com Group, Huawei, iQiyi, Jego Trip, Meituan and Spring Airlines, as witnessed by Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.

Thavisin visited China this week and attended the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which concluded on Wednesday.

Thavisin said at the signing ceremony that cooperation in trade, investment, education, culture, art and tourism will facilitate more people-to-people exchanges between China and Thailand, and further cement the friendship between the two neighboring countries.

"We hope that people-to-people exchanges will... become more convenient. The Thai authorities who visited China [to attend the BRF] hope that they could negotiate on lifting flight frequencies between China and Thailand," Kiatphaibool said.

She noted that the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, aligns with Thailand's development strategies of the Eastern Economic Corridor, and the alignment will produce a synergistic effect.

Effective from September 25 until February next year, nationals from China can enter Thailand under a temporary visa exemption plan. Kiatphaibool said that "there's been an obvious gain" in Chinese tourists following the visa-free arrangement and the TAT hoped that the number of Chinese visitor arrivals in Thailand could reach 4 million this year.

From January to October 15, the total number of Chinese tourists who visited Thailand reached 2.65 million, making China the second-largest source of international tourists in Thailand only after Malaysia.

The number of Chinese tourists arriving in Thailand is expected to reach half a million  per month, Kiatphaibool said. "Thai authorities are also in discussions about extending the visa-free policy."

During the interview, Kiatphaibool addressed public concerns on safety issues. "The Thai government has been paying great attention to ensuring Chinese tourists' personal safety. Relevant authorities are negotiating on potential police cooperation on major Thai tourism spots with the Chinese side."

According to a report by Tongcheng Travel, the popularity of visiting BRI partner countries has shown an evident upward trend this year. The top five tourism destinations among BRI partner countries are Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia Singapore and Turkey.