Thailand sees Lunar New Year travel boom as Chinese tourists back in droves

Resorts are near capacity in Pattaya, Bangkok restaurants are doing a roaring trade and the strict time slots to visit the Louis Vuitton pop-up “hotel” in the Thai capital are fully booked.As this year’s Lunar New Year holiday draws to a close, Thailand’s tourist businesses are totting up the receipts from what many hope will be an enduring rebound in Chinese visitors.More than 30,000 Chinese visitors have arrived each day since the start of January. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) forecasts 241,000 Chinese travellers during the February 13 to 22 holiday, bringing the total since the beginning of 2026 to more than 1 million.The TAT has invested heavily this year to claw back a crucial cohort that retreated from the Southeast Asian nation due to safety fears over scams, economic worries at home and a strong baht making alternatives like Vietnam more enticing.An army of Chinese influencers has been hired targeting multigenerational family groups and Gen Z travellers who shun large tours. This supports the country’s biggest ever tourism promotion campaign launched last month starring Lalisa “Lisa” Manobal, the Thai-born member of the K-pop girl group Blackpink.K-pop star Lalisa Manobal arrives for the Amazing Thailand Ambassador Exclusive Night at Wat Arun in Bangkok on January 28. Photo: EPAWhile the final Lunar New Year arrivals data are yet to be released, anecdotally the investment appears to have paid off.