Tourism in Thailand Drops to Lowest Level in 12 Years

Foreign tourist arrivals into Thailand plunged to the lowest level in at least 12 years due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the travel and aviation industry across the globe.

Tourist arrivals slumped to 6.7 million in 2020 from 39.9 million a year earlier, data from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports showed Monday. That’s the lowest number of visitors to the country since at least 2008.

According to Bloomberg, arrivals in December totaled 6,556, compared with 3.95 million during the same period a year earlier.

A new wave of Covid-19 infections and a mandatory two-week quarantine are discouraging visitors, threatening a recovery in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy that’s already devastated by the pandemic hit to its exports and tourism earnings.

The Bank of Thailand expects tourist arrivals to further slide to 5.5 million this year, lower than the number…