Mass Bangkok exodus for upcountry New Year celebrations

Bangkok’s Mo Chit 2 bus terminal was crowded on Thursday morning with passengers returning home for the 2012 New Year, while the Transport Company prepared buses sufficient for 5,000 trips per day, or 25,000 trips for the five-day holiday period.

Wuttichart Kalayanamitr, Transport Company president, said he expected the number of passengers would peak Thursday and be crowded through Friday.

He said normal routes can operate as usual except that some parts of roads in the central provinces of Ayutthaya and Saraburi where damages from the recent flood have not yet been repaired.

However, the number of passengers using bus services since Dec 25 has dropped compared to the same period last year.

Mr Wuttichart said only some 2 million passengers are expected to return home during the New Year festival, down from about 3 million last year. This is due to some of them still staying in their hometowns repairing flood-damaged homes.

 

mcot