The 929,433 foreign visitors constituted a rise of 24.3 per cent year-on-year with Chinese and Malaysian tourists forming the largest visitor blocs.
Tourism-related income this month as of May 13 increased by 28pc year-on-year, the minister said.
About 80pc of visitors, 752,911 arrived through the country's four main airports -- Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Chiang Mai and Phuket. Arrivals rose 32.8pc year-on-year.
Individually, Don Mueang saw a 69.5pc increase, Chiang Mai 54.1pc, Suvarnabhumi 32.2pc, and Phuket airport 5.4pc.
Mrs Kobkarn said that although growth was slowest in Phuket, that airport showed a positive sign for tourism in Phuket province because arrivals had dropped the previous month.
From October to May 13, 18.6 million foreigners visited Thailand. That was a gain of 15.7pc year-on-year. In the same period, the country generated 905.7 billion baht from tourism, an increase of 18.3pc.
Mrs Kobkarn also said that in March this year hotel occupancy rates in major tourist destinations ranged from 66-77%. She referred to rates in Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Krabi and Samui. Chiang Mai was on top of the occupancy rate list, followed by Bangkok.
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