In my opinion, a country should focus on sustainable development not just present interests. I think that even though tourism plays an important role in Thai economy, meanwhile, Thailand’s government should also develop other industries, for example, high-tech industry. Moreover, more students should learn basic science, such as engineering, physics, chemistry and biolo In Southeast Asia, there is a small but amazing country; it only has 600 million populations and 513120 km2 area.[1] Thailand has rich sources for travelling: mysterious temples, beautiful islands, nice beaches, delicious foods, marvelous cultural, all those elements deeply attract people from all over the world. Each year, around 11 million visitors [2]go there. Actually, tourism in Thailand plays an important role in the Thai economic structure even in the whole society, and it has a profound effect on Thai economy. In this essay, I’m going to talk about some background of tourism in Thailand, and I will try to figure out how does tourism impact the economy of Thailand.
Tourism is becoming the pillar industry in Thailand. In the last 20 years, tourism in Thailand developed rapidly. According to a survey done by ESCAP[3],” domestic tourism was able to contribute 29695 million baht to GDP, which was 3.7 per cent of total GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in 1983.”[4] According to another statistic, in 2009, tourism was contributing 14.7 %[5]to Thai GDP. According to the government’s data, in 2010, Thailand attracted 15.8 million tourists, and it generated about 19 billion dollars of revenue.[6]Sisdivachr Chevaratanaporn, the president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, states:” The industry generates hundreds of billion baht in revenue”.[7]Obviously, tourism is becoming a leading industry of Thai economy.