The number of Thai tourists in Hong Kong is expected to grow by 24 per cent this year and they will spend up to Bt8.6 billion on the business island, according to the Kasikorn Research Centre (KRC).

The Bangkok-based research house said that Hong Kong has been a renowned haven for foreign tourists and shoppers for a long time, with the potential growing over the past five years.

In 2004, the KRC said, Thai tourists spent up to Bt 6.84 billion on the business island.

The leading think tank projected that the number of Thai tourist arrivals in Hong Kong would grow 24 per cent on top of last year, or nearly 300,000 by the end of this year, thanks to a new major tourist attraction there--Hong Kong Disneyland, which was officially opened recently.

In the second half of this year alone, the KRC estimated that the number of Thai tourists in Hong Kong could reach 158,000, a 20 per cent increase from the same period of last year.

The Thai tourists are expected to spend up to Bt 8.6 billion totally in Hong Kong this year.