Songkran holidaymakers began to stream out of the capital on Friday, the last working day before the water-splashing festival.
The Mor Chit bus terminal and Hua Lamphong train station in Bangkok were packed with passengers and heavy traffic congestion were reported around the two sites as thousands began the journey home to the provinces for the traditional Thai New Year holiday.
Wanchai Chantorn, a senior railway official at Hua Lamphong, estimated that about 130,000 people would travel from the station on Friday alone. Additional north- and northeastern-bound trains had been arranged to ensure no passengers would be left stranded, he said.
Royal Thai Police Office spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said the number of vehicles on Bangkok's eastern outer ring road, Phahon Yothin Road and the Asian Highway began to increase in the evening but the traffic flow was still moving well.
However, congestion was reported at kilometre marker 24 on Mittraparb Road in Muak Lek district of Saraburi, where the road has upward or downward slopes with many curves and heavily used by trucks. More vehicles were expected on major interprovincial roads later in the night, Pol Lt Gen Prawut said.
Nopparat Karoonyavanich, vice-president of The Transport Co, said 1.2 million passengers were expected to travel to the northern and northeastern provinces via the Mor Chit bus terminal between Friday and April 19. All seats for April 9-12 have been pre-booked.
He said the state-owned interprovincial bus operator had increased the number of bus services from 6,700 to 7,500 round trips a day during the holiday period. He believed the extra services would be able to meet the demand of passengers.
He stressed that all drivers had been told to make passenger safety their first priority by taking enough rest.
Suvarnabhumi Airport director Prapon Pattamakijsakul said the country’s main airport was expected to serve around 1.76 million passengers, 1.47 million of them foreigners, between April 9 and 19, equal to a 17% increase from the same period last year.