Wasant Sainuan's trip home for Songkran came up short when he found himself lying on a train track less than halfway to his destination in Uttaradit.
Mr Wasant, 33 and travelling alone, was standing on the outside of the last car on a packed train from Bangkok to Denchai on Friday night. He was looking forward to a reunion with his parents in Laplae district.
He said he was exhausted after a long day of making travel preparations and fell asleep on his feet. As the train approached Ban Pachi station in Ayutthaya province, he fell off.
Mr Wasant needed 20 stiches to a cut on his head and did not say whether he would continue his journey or scrap the trip.
He was one of the luckier ones on Friday, the second of the "seven deadly days" of Songkran, when traffic accidents and fatalities peak.
People queue for train tickets at Hua Lamphong station on Saturday. (Photo by Patipat Janthong)
Authorities reported 34 fatalities on Friday, nine more than on Thursday when many people started travelling back home. Friday featured 399 accidents, up from 324 on Thursday, according to the Road Safety Directing Centre.
Thursday's death total of 25 was 16 lower than on the same day in 2014. Authorities this year are hoping that stepped-up safety enforcement will reduce the accident toll from 2014, when 322 people died in 2,992 accidents over the seven-day period.
On Saturday, 10 people travelling home were injured when an inter-city van slammed into the rear of an 18-wheel truck in Phan Thong district in Chon Buri province, Thairath Online reported, quoting Pol Lt Col Suwichak Meeyaem, a traffic police officer.
The van, bound from Victory Monument to Rayong, struck the truck parked by the motorway, injuring seven people in the van, including van driver Wichien Rukkarat.
Police have not charged him until all passengers and the truck driver were questioned to find the cause of the accident.
People continued to leave for home during the long holidays, which officially began on Saturday, with all trains and buses fully booked.