At least one million Chinese tourists will visit Thailand in 2006, generating revenues of 26 billion bath (US$689 million), Thailand's Kasikorn Research Center (KRC) has said.

A total of 800,000 Chinese tourists visited Thailand last year generating revenues of 20 billion bath (US$530 million), the Thai News Agency quoted the KRC as saying Friday.

KRC said growing from a tiny market a decade ago China is now ranked among the top 10 biggest markets and is one of the fastest-growing markets for Thai tourism. This reflects the strength of the Chinese economy and the Chinese government's policy to encourage its people to travel.

Nevertheless, both domestic and international factors have played a role in making the Chinese tourist market for Thailand to develop in a rather volatile pattern over the last decade, said the KRC.

But the overall picture is such that from over 450,000 visitors in 1996, Thailand received over 800,000 Chinese tourists in 2005.

According to statistics collected by the Tourism Authority of Thailand for 2004, some 780,000 Chinese tourists spent over 19 billion bath during their stays in Thailand.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2006)