Bangkok occupancy up, rates down; Phuket does the reverse
Bangkok added 1,211 rooms and has 17,590 more in the pipeline, while Phuket's luxury tier lost revenue per room.
Bangkok hotels sold more of their rooms in the first half of 2026 and earned slightly less on each one. Occupancy averaged 76.2%, up 1.1% on a year earlier, but the average daily rate (ADR) fell 2.1% to 4,013 baht and revenue per available room (RevPAR) slipped 0.6% to 3,056 baht, according to Knight Frank figures reported by The Nation.
Phuket went the other way. Knight Frank put its first-half occupancy at 76.8%, down 3.2 points from 80.0%, while ADR rose 5.3% to 7,117 baht and RevPAR edged up 1.1% to 5,465 baht.
Bangkok: more rooms, thinner rates
Supply is the pressure. Bangkok had 105,038 rooms at the end of June, up 1,211 (1.2%) from the end of 2025. Luxury and upscale hotels are 65% of the stock, and about 69% of rooms carry a brand.
Rates moved differently by tier. Luxury ADR rose 0.6% to 7,010 baht and midscale rose 0.4% to 2,151 baht, but upscale fell 4.4% to 4,197 baht. The squeeze sits in the middle of the market.
More is coming. The pipeline holds 17,590 rooms, 16.7% of current supply, and about 80% of scheduled projects are luxury or upscale. More than half of the projects with a known location are in Sukhumvit and Lumpini-Siam. Knight Frank scheduled 2,498 rooms for the second half of 2026, though some may be delayed. The Nation's piece carries two inconsistent figures for 2027 openings, so we leave them out.
One of the new hotels is already open. Asset World Corp (AWC) launched the 416-room Fairmont Bangkok Sukhumvit, including 58 suites, in August, The Nation reported. AWC chief executive Wallapa Traisorat called it the company's largest project since its listing, at more than 6 billion baht. The hotel has over 2,000 square metres of event space across three floors.
Carlos Martinez, director of research and consultancy at Knight Frank Thailand, said competition in Bangkok is shifting from city level to submarket level. Location and product differentiation count for more than the city average.
Phuket: fewer guests, higher prices, then lower again
Phuket's first half was shaped by season. January and February made up 43.4% of air travellers, June only 10.8%. RevPAR seasonality ran from an index of 196 in January to 41 in June, where 100 is the yearly average.
Air travellers to Phuket totalled 4.39 million, down 1.4%. International travellers were 2.74 million (down 0.9%) and domestic 1.65 million (down 2.3%). Russia sent 574,315 visitors and China 314,130, with the United Kingdom and Australia about 123,000 each, TAT Phuket data in the same report show.
Two surveys, two answers on rates
Cushman & Wakefield covers only Phuket's luxury and upscale hotels, 49,380 rooms, and reports a weaker half, The Star said. Its occupancy was 80%, from 84.1%. ADR fell 4% to 6,820 baht and RevPAR dropped 8.7% to 5,456 baht. Guest numbers were down 2.72% to 6.04 million.
Knight Frank shows ADR up 5.3% and Cushman shows it down 4%. The two firms measure different sets of hotels, and The Nation's report does not say which hotels Knight Frank's sample includes. For a hotel owner the safer reading is the narrower one: the top of the Phuket market lost ground.
Cushman blamed fewer international visitors from April, Middle East unrest weighing on travel confidence, and higher airfares hurting long-haul markets such as Europe and the Americas. About 3,440 rooms are under construction in the tiers it tracks, opening between 2026 and 2028, which adds roughly 7% to supply. Phuket's 2025 visitor count was about 14.1 million, and the 2026 target is about 14 million.
What to watch
The winter season is the test. Bangkok has 2,498 rooms scheduled for the rest of 2026, some of which may slip, and Phuket depends on January and February, which together carried 43.4% of its air travellers in the first half.
FAQ
What was Bangkok hotel occupancy in the first half of 2026?
Knight Frank measured 76.2%, up 1.1% year on year. The average daily rate fell 2.1% to 4,013 baht.
Are Phuket hotels doing better or worse than last year?
It depends on the survey. Knight Frank shows occupancy down 3.2 points and ADR up 5.3%. Cushman & Wakefield, covering luxury and upscale only, shows RevPAR down 8.7%.
How many new hotel rooms are coming to Bangkok?
Knight Frank counts a pipeline of 17,590 rooms, 16.7% of current supply, including 2,498 rooms scheduled for the second half of 2026.
