Thailand welcomed a record 35.38 million tourists in 2017: ministry

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand welcomed a record 35.38 million foreign tourists in 2017, up 8.8 percent from the previous year, the tourism ministry said on Tuesday

Thailand's December tourist arrivals were seen at 3.5 million, the ministry said in a press release, up 15.1 percent from a year earlier.

The ministry attributed growth in 2017 to increase numbers of tourists from China and East Asia.

(Reporting by Suphanida Thakral and Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Amy Sawitta Lefevre; Editing by Richard Borsuk)