BEIJING - For those living in the drier parts of inland China, spending more than 10 hours on flights for a subtropical seaside vacation in Thailand is becoming a thing of the past.

Stronger cooperation, more direct air routes and fast-growing tourism are bringing the rolling waves and soft beaches of Phuket, Pattaya and Koh Samui closer to Chinese tourists in noncoastal areas, as airlines increase flights.

One of the latest openings is a new direct Nok Air flight between Pattaya and Yinchuan, capital of Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region, which reduces travel time between the two cities to less than five hours.