The Royal Thai Government established the Tourist Organisation on March 18, 1960 to be specifically responsible for the promotion and marketing of Thailand’s tourism and the tourism industry. It was renamed the Tourist Organization of Thailand (TOT) in 1963. Thailand’s first international tourist office under the TOT banner opened in New York in 1965 and first domestic office in Chiang Mai in 1968.
As Thailand’s tourism continued to grow and increasingly played pivotal role as one of the country’s top export earners, the government saw the need to place greater emphasis on promoting and marketing the kingdom as a tourism destination among global travellers. In 1979, the government passed a bill that brought the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) into existence.
Since then, the TAT has grown into a sophisticated tourism marketing organisation. Now in its 55th year with headquarters in Bangkok, 35 offices in Thailand and 27 offices overseas, the TAT has helped to make Thailand one of the world’s favourite destinations for global travellers. Visitor arrivals grew from 81,000 tourists in 1960 to 24.77 million in 2014.