Political Economy of the Tourism Industry in Thailand in Current History

This paper addresses the problem with which the tourism industry of Thailand is confronted and the ways in which it responded and rose to the occasion. The purpose of this paper was to examine the Thai tourism industry before, during, and after the pandemic. To achieve this goal, this article reviewed the literature regarding tourism in Thailand prior to the pandemic, at the height of the pandemic, and after the end of the pandemic. The literature used was culled from government sources and the tourism industry. This article used a qualitative research methodology include involving ethnography. Using political economy as the framework of analysis, this study revealed in the findings section that the tourism industry in Thailand in current history has undergone three periods of changes, with the government, the tourism industry, and the society at large responding to the ever-changing situation. This study shed light and added to the knowledge on the changing landscape of the Thai tourist industry. The findings provided a foundation upon which guide the further development of new thrusts in the tourism industry that meets the changing situation.