In the course of the period under consideration, Thai tourism underwent a process of heterogeneization in several respects: in the composition of the tourist flow, the variety of Thailand travel attractions and amenities, the kinds of tourism and the range and quality of touristic services and facilities.
During the GI period, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, foreign Thailand travelers were dominated by North Americans. These not only constituted the dominant group among overseas tourist; but the tourist infrastructure of the country (the kinds and style of services and facilities) was adapted to the taste and demands of American visitors. In the 1970s, however, there was a rapid increase in Japanese tourists, whose number quickly approximated, and then passed, the number of American tourists, to become, and remain up to the present, the dominant group of overseas travelers to Thailand. Concomitantly, overseas tourism from European countries, especially Germany, Great Britain and France, and from the other more developed Asian countries (Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore) also grew substantially. Border tourism from Malaysia, always strong in numbers, but limited to the southern border provinces, continued to expand; Malaysians in fact constitute the largest group of foreign visitors to Thailand. Tourists from other parts of the world, such as Arabs and mainland Chinese, added to the heterogeneity of the foreign tourist population.
The heterogeneization of the origin of Thailand travels, with their particular interests and culturally conditioned tastes, engendered a gradual diversification of services and facilities, oriented to various national groups. Ethno-specific services, such as restaurants and places of entertainment, developed specifically in response to the particular tastes and demands of the Arab and Japanese visitors; but other national groups, such as the Germans, also endow some of the localities in which they tend to congregate with a distinct ambience.
The growth in the number of tourist and the diversification of the tourist flow has been accompanied by a process of heterogeneization of the attractions and amenities offered to them. This process was partly initiated by the authorities and partly spontaneous. For both national and economic reasons, the Thai authorities strove to modify the dual touristic image which the country acquired during the GI period, and present the world with a more complex image of a country blessed with a wide variety of attractions and amenities, which may appeal to diverse interests of potential Thailand travelers. One aim of the authorities was to reduce the relative number of single male tourists and to attract family visits, thereby reducing the scale of sex tourism. With the emergence of a wider spectrum of new attractions, developed by the authorities and private developers, several types of specialized tourisms became possible.
The various Thailand travel attractions, and accompanying kinds of tourism, can be classified into five major categories:

1. Natural attractions: the most formally defined natural attractions are the national parks, of which there are presently 77; the first one was created in 1962. However, while these parks were intended for visit by domestic and by foreign tourists; they are also nature reserves; hence, the recent attempt by the TAT to take control over them and develop them for more intense touristic utilization ran into fierce opposition by conservationalists. Smaller natural attractions are often fenced and marked by signs in Thai and English. Along some scenic routes, observation points have been established. Many natural attractions are not physically marked, but are listed in guide books, on maps, and in local promotional materials. Around some types of natural attractions emerged specialized kinds of travels, such as adventure and wilderness tours, cave exploration, and different other forms of eco-tourism.

2. Historical attractions: In recent years the Thai authorities have made substantial efforts to restore and make accessible to visitors several major Cambodian and Thai archaeological sites. The principal expression of such efforts is the demarcation of nine historical parks, among which the recently restored Cambodian temple of Phanom Rung has achieved great publicity, not only for touristic, but also for nationalist reasons. An increasing number of palaces and historical buildings and museums have also been opened to the public; some became important sites for foreign, and even more, domestic tourism.

3. Ethnic attractions: Tourists are commonly attracted to the Thai people; however, ethnic tourism in a narrower sense developed primarily in the northern hill tribe region. The hill tribes became a popular attraction for youth tourism in the early 1970s. Their attractiveness gave rise to jungle trekking tourism and to various other forms of travel to tribal villages. Some of the latter, and especially the Hmong village of Doi Pui in the vicinity of Chiang Mai, were transformed into highly staged tourist attractions. Tribal people were exposed in artificial hill tribe villages, established in urban touristis installations. Other ethnic groups such as the Sea Gypsies and similar former hunter-gatherer groups also became minor attractions of ethnic tourism.

4. Cultural attractions: The major Buddhist temples have attracted foreign visitors for a long time; in the more recent period, fairs, festivals, and folk arts became of growing touristic significance. Established fairs and festivals were promoted, made accessible, and in some cases also made more spectacular to attract traveler, and some new festivals were created for touristic consumption. Major Buddhist festivals, such as the Candle Festival in Ubon, the Elephant Roundup in Surin and the Vegetarian Festival in Phuket, are important attractions for both foreign and domestic tourism. New festivals have been created or old ones adapted in established tourist centers, such as the Flower Festival in Chiang Mai, as well as in localities seeking to attract tourists, such as the Egg and Bananas Festival in Kamphaeng Phet or the Straw Bird Fair in Chainat. Folk arts, often declined owing to falling local demand, were revived, adapted and some were even newly invented to serve a travel market; some craft villages and craft markets became tourist attractions in their own right, such as the Dan Kwien pottery, and the Ban Thawai carving villages.

5. Vacationing attractions: As already mentioned, the southward expansion of tourism in Thailand proceeded primarily through the opening of beaches on the islands and along the mainland coasts to vacationing tourism. Initially, vacationing was a simple matter of the "three s's", sea, sun, and sand. Over the years, however, the attractions offered by the seaside resorts became increasingly more diversified: a great variety of leisure and sporting amenities have been provided in the resorts, creating new possibilities for vacationing activities which reached far beyond the simple pleasures of the "three s's". Thereby the conditions for the emergence of new kinds of tourism, such as diving tours, and especially golfing tourism, were created. Tourist-oriented golf courses were at first constructed in the hinterland of seaside resorts; but with the recent growing popularity of Thailand as a golfing destination, particularly with East Asian tourists, such courses are also being established in destinations unrelated to seaside resorts. Golfing vacations thus became a new, specialized kind of vacationing tourism in Thailand. The recent establishment of health resorts, serving as yet a limited, wealthy local business elite, hints at the possibility of the future emergence of another specialization in Thai tourism: health vacations.

The heterogeneization of tourist attractions in Thailand, as here reviewed, is marked by two contrary tendencies. On the one hand, new attractions are created by the growing penetration of as yet untouched and remote natural environments, which are initially targets of wilderness tours and eco-tourism. On the other hand, there is a trend away from natural towards contrived attractions, namely such as are specifically established for touristic consumption, as for example, theme parks, like the Ancient City, open zoos, like the Safari World, bird parks and crocodile farms. Many such contrived attractions were established without much regard for "placeness", namely the natural, cultural, or historical characteristics of the context of their site. Rather, they tend to be sited in the vicinity of major population concentrations or principal vacationing areas, such as the Eastern Seaboard "Riviera" and the island of Phuket. Such "contrived" attractions add variety to mature vacationing centers and tend increasingly to determine their touristic appeal.

The gradual "horizontal" diversification of attractions and amenities has been accompanied by a "vertical" differentiation in the quality of tourist services and facilities. This has been reflected in a great expansion of the range of their prices. Relatively cheap accommodation, eating and travelling facilities and personal services are still available to shoe-string youth travellers, as they were at the beginning of the period under consideration. At the opposite end, however, the price range expanded considerably, as ever more higher-class hotels, luxurious travel services, exclusive restaurants, clubs, golf courses and sports centers were added over the years to the existing range of facilities. These are patronized not only by wealthy foreigners but increasingly also by the growing Thai urban classes.