Three expressways toll-free on Friday as long weekend begins
Three expressways will waive toll fees on Friday to facilitate heavy traffic expected on the long holiday weekend.
From 0.01am until midnight on Friday, vehicles can zip through all toll booths of the Chalerm Maha Nakhon, Sirat and Udon Ratthaya expressways free of charge, the Expressway Authority of Thailand (Exat) said.
The authority expects more people to travel on Friday as it forms a four-day long weekend, which kicks off with Royal Ploughing Day.
The break will extend into Monday, which is a compensation holiday for Visakha Bucha Day on Sunday (May 15).
The national holiday on Friday marks the Royal Ploughing Ceremony, an ancient tradition observed in Thailand every year to mark the start of the rice-growing season. The ceremony is held at Sanam Luang in Bangkok’s Phra Nakhon district, where oxen plough the ground before being offered a choice of different foods to eat. Brahmin priests and court astrologers then interpret what the oxen eat to forecast whether the country’s coming harvest will be plentiful or not.