Chinese outpace Russian arrivals to Phuket

The report, for the period Apr 1-30, was issued yesterday (May 1), marking Russians as the top nationality for international arrivals for the month of April. 

In total, 63,476 Russians arrived in Phuket during April, compared with 56,583 for the period Apr 1-26 ‒ marking 6,893 new arrivals from Russia in the past week.

However, the number of Chinese arrivals for the month totalled 46,697, up from 35,615 last week ‒ marking 11,082 Chinese arrivals on the island in the past seven days, 4,189 more than the number of Russians arriving in Phuket.

Arrivals from India remained in third place, with 24,897 arrivals during April, up from 21,025 last week (+3,872 in the past seven days).

Tourists from Australia placed fourth for the month with 23,307 arrivals, up from 20,839 last week (+2,468).

British nationals arriving on the island held fifth place, with 17,552 arrivals from the UK during April, up from 15,773 last week (+1,779).

The number of international arrivals for April totalled 304,485, up from 256,590 as of Apr 26 (+47,895).

The number of foreigners registered as staying in Phuket climbed 50,646, from 320,161 as of Apr 26 to 370,807 in total for Apr 1-30.

The latest reports by Phuket Immigration marked a total of four ‘yellow cards’ issued as warnings during April. All four ‘yellow cards’ were issued to Thai nationals, in line with the new policy by Phuket Immigration Chief Pol Col Thanet Sukchai to start ramping up pressure on making sure landlords, or “householders”, were aware of the legality of any foreign tenants.

In total, 29 foreigners were arrested for breach of immigration laws during april, the reports confirmed.

A further 17 people were fined for breach of Section 38 of the Immigration Act, which requires householders to notify immigration of any foreigners staying at their premises.