By Kabeer Yousuf — MUSCAT: April 17 - More than 55,000 Omanis visited Thailand last year for medical needs, according to the data provided by Thai diplomatic mission here. The Southeast Asian country had received more than 100,000 Omani tourists in 2016. The number of Omanis visiting Bangkok has been constantly increasing. Statistics for 2016 indicate a 25 per cent increase in their number compared with the previous year. “A total of 105,299 tourists visited Thailand from Oman, of which more than half were medical tourists,” said Jesda Katavetin, Ambassador of Thailand to Oman. A total of 85,726 Omanis visited Thailand in 2015, many of them for medical purposes, he said.
After medical tourism, leisure and wellness, fashion and gastronomy were major tourism attractions for Omanis last year. Oman is Thailand’s fourth largest trade partner in the Middle East, and the trade between the two nations stood at $1.2 billion in 2015. Both countries are working towards tripling the bilateral trade by 2020, according to the Thai Ministry of Commerce. “Oman is developing its infrastructure, including port and new airport. Once these are completed, the country will be better placed to become an excellent gateway for Thai businesses to enter other countries in the GCC and beyond,” he added.
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