Tourism Statistics
Tourism statistics presented in this chapter have been derived from the Tourism
Authority of Thailand, Ministry of Tourism and Sports and National Statistic Office.
H.R.H. Krompra Kampaengpet Akkarayothin, commissioner of the former State Railways
Department then was keen in promoting tourism by sending documents on Thailand to publicize
the country in the United States. He also set up a Public Section at the department around
1924
to provide facilities and services to tourists visiting Thailand and also to publicize Thailand to
foreigners.
In
1949
, the Cabinet considered and agree that it was appropriate to improve the tourist
unit. When tourist promotion was transferred to the Department of Publicity, under the Office of
the Prime Minister, it was renamed “Office of Tourism Promotion”
The establishment of a Tourist Organization as a state enterprise, attached to the Office
of the Prime Minister, was initiated in
1959
by a Royal Decree. In
1979
, a review of the Tourist
Organization of Thailand (TOT) was discussed, and it was decided to raise the status of the TOT
to the “ Tourism Authority of Thailand ” (TAT), in the
1979
Tourism Act. And as of October
2002
, it
is an agency under the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
In
1965
, the first overseas office was opened in New York, U.S.A. and the first local office
was opened in Chiang Mai in
1968
. Up to
2004
, the Tourism Authority of Thailand maintained
18
overseas offices, and expanded its local offices to the provinces around the country for a total
22
local offices.
The National Statistical Office has carried out the Hotels and Guest Houses Survey
every year since
1966
and the data was provided to the Office of the National Economic and
Social Development Board without dissemination to the public. The first report was published
since
1979,
thereafter, the said survey has been conducted every two years. The survey covers
