New western Thailand motorway to be open for free during Songkran

Construction of the new motorway – officially called Intercity Highway Number 81, or M81 – was 97.5% complete and could be partly opened to facilitate road travel during that period, he said.

Work is 39% complete on the installation of relevant systems, such as traffic control, toll collection, and road management, the deputy minister said.

Surapong said the Department of Highways would open the M81 Highway from April 11 to April 21, allowing motorists to enter it – free of charge and at any time of the day – from the toll plazas of West Nakhon Pathom, Tha Maka, Tha Muang, and Kanchanaburi.

“This will help residents of Kanchanaburi and the neighbouring provinces to travel more easily and quickly during the Songkran festival. Also, this is a way to promote tourism in Kanchanaburi and the western region of the country,” he added.

The 96-kilometre-long motorway connects Bang Yai district in Bangkok’s satellite province of Nonthaburi with Kanchanaburi’s Tha Muang district in western Thailand.

This year’s Songkran festival, which is being billed as the world’s largest water fight, offers a five-day holiday break from April 12-16.

Surapong said on Thursday that during the final stages of the motorway’s construction, the Department of Highways also planned to open the M81 Highway on the weekends to encourage more inter-province travel. Starting from April 26, the motorway would be open for vehicles from 3pm on Fridays until 9pm on Sundays, he said.

The Bang Yai-Kanchanaburi motorway is expected to help reduce traffic between Nakhon Pathom and Kanchanaburi provinces by about 28%, or 7,500 vehicles per day, Surapong said. He added that the time spent travelling between Bangkok and the border province of Kanchanaburi would be reduced by half.