4,500 trips arranged from Bangkok to transport 60,000 people every day during Songkran
State-owned and private buses and vans have been arranged to make 4,500 trips every day to carry an estimated 60,000 people back home to the provinces from Bangkok for the long Songkran holidays, the Transport Company announced on Thursday.
Sanyalak Panwattanalikhit, managing director of the state-run Transport Company, said some 60,000 people would leave Bangkok by buses or vans each day from April 10-12.
To meet their needs, the Transport Company has arranged its buses, private buses and private vans to make about 4,500 trips a day.
He said the number of passengers is expected to rise by 10 per cent during the period.
After the five-day holiday period, the Transport Company expected some 53,000 people would return to Bangkok each day from April 16 to 18.
The company and its private concessionaires would arrange buses and vans to provide 3,300 trips to take them back to Bangkok.
Sanyalak advised passengers to reach bus terminals about two or three hours before the scheduled departure time.
He said passengers could buy tickets from ticket booths at the terminals or through the company’s website, or via its app, or through its ticket agents nationwide.
Sanyalak said about 80 seats for the northern, southern, northeastern and eastern routes had been booked. Most bookings were made for Bangkok-Chiang Mai, Bangkok-Nakhon Phanom, and Bangkok-Hat Yai routes during the Songkran holidays.
Sanyalak said the Transport Company also provided 10% discount to travellers before and after the long Songkran period. People who buy tickets out of Bangkok from April 3 to 9 and return to Bangkok from April 18 to 24 would get a 10% discount.
Sanyalak said the Transport Company would also provide free checking for private vehicles at its maintenance service centre in Rangsit from now until April 12.
During the Songkran travelling period when traffic at the Morchit Bus Terminal would be congested, the company has sought cooperation from the Krung Thep Apiwat Central Terminal to use the central railway station for the buses to make U-turns.
