"New Year holidays"

The number of new Covid-19 infections has been on the rise after the New Year break, but the death toll has not significantly increased, in line with current scientific data showing the Omicron variant is not as severe as Delta despite being more transmissible, Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said on Wednesday.

The Pollution Control Department’s Centre for Air Pollution Mitigation said on Wednesday that it expected the air quality in all regions of Thailand to be at a “good” level on average during the New Year holidays, based on its 7-day air quality forecast from December 30 to January 5.

The number of road fatalities is lower so far during this year’s New Year holidays, but drunk driving and speeding remain the key contributing factors in crashes, accounting for most of the arrests made, Interior Minister Anupong Paojinda told reporters at Government House on Wednesday.

Nescafe has joined with the Highway Police Division in a New Year holiday campaign that they say will encourage people to drive home safely.

BUS and train terminals were full with passengers heading back to Bangkok yesterday as the New Year holidays came to an end.