Tourism arrivals increased against last year

Tourist arrivals increased three percent in the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period of last year, according to Pornsiri Manoharn, head of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
And of course, we all believe every single word of the Thai Tourism Organization, as if it would be the holy gospel itself...

"This year is another record year in tourism for Thailand, with 14.8 million foreign holidaymakers who spent 547.5 billion baht (1.6 billion dollars) here.
Arrivals in October rose by 15 percent due to a drop-off in tourism last year which were affected by the September 2006 military coup.
Japanese were the biggest group of arrivals, with one million visitors to Thailand, followed by South Korea at 760,000 and China at 705,000.
Thais are also urged to explore more of their own country. Thailand is planning to attract new visitors from Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
15.7 million tourists are expected next year so as to yield about 600 billion baht for the country.
Thailand has been successful in growing its tourism industry despite a series of setbacks like the 2004 tsunami, a military coup, and southern unrest."