Malaysia tourists in Phuket: arrivals by year and month

Malaysia accounted for 425,784 guest arrivals at Phuket accommodation establishments in 2025 — 4.2% of all foreign check-ins (10,085,407) and rank #8 among the 38 foreign rows (including the residual “Others”) the Ministry of Tourism and Sports publishes for the province. Against 2024 (371,812) that is +14.5%; against 2019, the last pre-pandemic year (271,657), it is +56.7%.

Over the whole series the market went from 273,270 in 2013 to 425,784 in 2025 (+55.8%). The best year on record is 2023 with 451,806 check-ins. The pandemic low was 2021 at 277. Malaysia’s share of foreign arrivals moved from 2.8% in 2019 to 4.2% in 2025, so the market grew faster than Phuket as a whole.

Seasonality: in 2025 the peak month was December (60,142) and the quietest March (12,044). Averaged over 2023–2025, arrivals are strongly seasonal (3× between September and January): November–March carries 32.4% of the year and June–August 30.2%, which makes Malaysia a year-round market for Phuket. Before the pandemic (2013–2019) the strongest month averaged 12.4% of the year, in January.

Definitions: a guest arrival is a check-in at a registered hotel, resort, guesthouse or serviced apartment in Phuket province, counted by the nationality given at check-in. It is not an airport arrival and not a count of people: someone who stays in two hotels is counted twice, someone in a private villa is not counted. The nationality series runs 2013–2025; the 2026 split will appear with the ministry’s 2026 annual file, expected mid-2027. Source: Thailand Ministry of Tourism and Sports, provincial statistics, retrieved September 2026; files refreshed 2026-09-05.