PHUKET: The dramatic increase in tourist numbers visiting Phuket levelled off a little in October but a record 2013 still appears certain.
Rising by a mere 20.38 percent, there were 934,298 arrivals and departures at Phuket International Airport for the month, taking the total for 10 months so far to 9,337,961.
A total for the year of more than 11 million passengers now seems highly likely.
With the building of new terminals at Phuket's antiquated airport proceeding at a rapid pace, there appears to be no sign of the holiday island's constantly spreading appeal suddenly halting.
However, the October increase was the smallest since January, the high season peak. The number of arrivals and departures on Phuket topped one million in January, February and March and again in August.
The figures are often misread but what they mean is that Phuket is likely to have 2.8 million international visitors for 2013. Bali is anticipating more than three million.
With many of the issues that have troubled tourists on Phuket now being addressed, even the swelling antagonism around Thailand to the Government's Amnesty Bill seems unlikely to derail Phuket's continuing success.
By adapting the facilities and aircraft parking space, Phuket's airport authorities hope to be able to improve the capacity from 12.5 million to 20 million despite having only one runway.
Domestic traffic is not increasing as fast as international movements. International arrivals and departures in October totalled 503,595 (up 21.74 percent) compared to 430,703 domestic movements (up 14.03 percent.)
Flights for the year to November total 27,280, up 2.02 percent.
Rising by a mere 20.38 percent, there were 934,298 arrivals and departures at Phuket International Airport for the month, taking the total for 10 months so far to 9,337,961.
A total for the year of more than 11 million passengers now seems highly likely.
With the building of new terminals at Phuket's antiquated airport proceeding at a rapid pace, there appears to be no sign of the holiday island's constantly spreading appeal suddenly halting.
However, the October increase was the smallest since January, the high season peak. The number of arrivals and departures on Phuket topped one million in January, February and March and again in August.
The figures are often misread but what they mean is that Phuket is likely to have 2.8 million international visitors for 2013. Bali is anticipating more than three million.
With many of the issues that have troubled tourists on Phuket now being addressed, even the swelling antagonism around Thailand to the Government's Amnesty Bill seems unlikely to derail Phuket's continuing success.
By adapting the facilities and aircraft parking space, Phuket's airport authorities hope to be able to improve the capacity from 12.5 million to 20 million despite having only one runway.
Domestic traffic is not increasing as fast as international movements. International arrivals and departures in October totalled 503,595 (up 21.74 percent) compared to 430,703 domestic movements (up 14.03 percent.)
Flights for the year to November total 27,280, up 2.02 percent.
