Phuket guest arrivals by month and country

How to read these tables

The figures are guest arrivals at accommodation establishments in Phuket province — check-ins at hotels, resorts, guesthouses and other registered accommodation — as published by Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports, by nationality and by month. They are not airport arrivals and not visitor counts: a traveller who changes hotel is counted twice, a traveller in a private villa is not counted at all. The nationality is the one recorded at check-in; “Korea”, “USA” and the regional rows (“Middle East”, “East Europe”) are the ministry’s own labels. The tables show the ten largest foreign markets of each year — the set changes slightly from year to year — and the last column is the total for all foreign nationalities, 10,085,407 in 2025.

All foreign check-ins together peaked in December 2025 (1,026,381) and bottomed in June (692,365), a ratio of 1.5 between the busiest and the quietest month. November to March carried 44.6% of the year, June to August 23.5%. Before the pandemic the peak month averaged 12.2% of the year (January, 2013–2019); over 2023–2025 it is 10.2% (December). An even calendar would give each month 8.3%. Among the six markets charted above, Germany has the highest winter share (50.5% in November–March), India the widest swing between its busiest and quietest month (4.2×), Australia the flattest calendar (1.4×), and India the strongest growth since 2019 (+356.5%).

Russia: the winter-leaning market

Russia is the largest foreign market in 2025 with 1,748,249 check-ins (+92.3% vs 2019) and a winter-leaning market: 49.4% of Russian arrivals fall in November–March, against 21.2% in June–August. The peak month was January (185,626), the low October (110,589), a 1.7× swing. The pattern was the same before 2020 — the pre-COVID peak month was January at 16.5% of the year — but the base is now roughly twice as large, and Phuket’s highest monthly occupancy of 2025 was in January (86.4%); the same calendar drives the high-season prices in the index.

China: holiday calendar, not weather

China sent 1,285,894 check-ins in 2025 (−58.8% vs 2019, when it was the largest market). Its calendar follows Chinese holidays rather than Phuket’s dry season: the 2025 peak was July (150,214), the low June (59,543); June–August carried 27.7% of the year and November–March 43.7%. Before the pandemic the strongest month averaged 11.3% of the year in January; over 2023–2025 it is December at 10.8%. Month to month the Chinese series is the most volatile of the six (coefficient of variation 28.8% across the twelve months of 2025) — visa rules, flight capacity and news cycles move it within a single quarter, which is visible in the 2025 table.

India: two seasons

India is the third market with 1,029,588 check-ins in 2025, +356.5% vs 2019 — the fastest-growing of the six since then. Its seasonality is strongly seasonal (4.2× between December, 116,972, and August, 28,135): the Indian school holidays in May–June carried 18.3% of the year, October — the Diwali and Dussehra window — 8.5%, and November–March 47.8%. Indian demand is what fills Phuket in months that used to be the low season, and it is a large part of why the island’s seasonality curve has flattened since 2019.

United Kingdom, Germany, Australia

The United Kingdom (762,815 check-ins in 2025, +125.9% vs 2019) peaked in November (91,169) with the low in March (39,587); November–March took 41.8% and the British summer holidays, June–August, 25.3% — a moderately seasonal profile with two shoulders rather than one winter peak.

Germany (571,661, −10.5% vs 2019) is a classic winter market: 50.5% of German arrivals fall in November–March, the peak was February (65,245) and the low June (31,252), 2.1× apart. The Christmas–New Year weeks and the weeks that follow are the densest part of the German year on the island.

Australia (628,551, +30.3% vs 2019) has the flattest calendar of the six: 1.4× between January (65,241) and September (46,235). Australian school holidays fall in every quarter and Phuket is a short direct flight, so the market fills the shoulder months as much as the peak.

What it means for a trip

If you want the island at its quietest, the tables point to June; if you want to avoid a specific crowd, look at that market’s low month rather than the island total — the Russian low (October) and the Chinese low (June) do not coincide. Prices follow the same calendar with a lag: the Phuket Travel Price Index records hotel and villa medians on the 1st and 15th of every month, so the seasonality here can be read against the price series. For climate by month — rain days, sea state, sunshine — see the best-time-to-visit page; for the definitions behind every column and the annual totals, the statistics hub.

The ten markets shown for 2025 are Russia, China, India, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Malaysia, Middle East, USA. Every one of the twenty largest markets has its own page with the full annual series. Source: Thailand Ministry of Tourism and Sports, provincial statistics, retrieved September 2026; files refreshed 2026-09-05.