Caretaker prime minister and several other ministers were removed from office by the Constitutional Court, because of a controversial transfer of a security officer in 2011. A new caretaker prime minister was installed. Both anti-goverment demonstration and also demonstrations by pro-government Red Shirts continued unabated. Martial Law was declared by the Royal Thai Army on 20 May 2014.
The above contributed to a decrease in travel arrivals during 2014, spread over the first three quarters of the year. During the first 9 months of 2014 around 2,000,000 less tourists arrived in Thailand, or a decrease of -10.28% when compared with the same period of 2013. To put it into perspective, the number of arrivals in 2014 is still clearly higher than in 2012.
Gloom and doom were clearly reversed during the last quarter which saw the highest number of arrivals in a quarter ever. Arrivals increased by 6.5% compared to the previous year. This looks very promising for 2015. As before, tourism picks up about 2-3 months after stability in the country has been restored.