THE New Year travel rush has started with 120,000 people expected to board buses and head home from Bangkok Bus Terminal (Chatuchak) by 11 p.m. this evening (Dec. 27) with a key difference this year being strict scanning of luggage, TV Channel 7 said.
Most of the travellers were carrying lots of gifts for their loved ones with some of those waiting for their bus saying they were very happy to go home and a few saying they had not returned for three years now.
Meanwhile traffic is starting to build up on Asian Highway heading North with around 2,500 to 3,000 vehicles an hour passing the stretch from Chai Nat interchange to Hang Nam Sakhon intersection at Chai Nat’s Manorom district. The evening speed was 80 to 90 kilometres an hour but the flow slows down at a set of traffic lights before reaching this intersection.
Traffic on Mittraphap highway which connects the Central region to the Northeast is more dense with the road speed being 50-60 km an hour. The flow slows down on uphill sections and the detour to enter M6 Motorway but police are there to control and facilitate the big rush home.
On Rama 2 road, which is the route to the South through Samut Sakhon province and where all construction work has stopped, there was very heavy traffic this evening. The flow slows down at an interchange close to the bridge over Tha Chin river in this province and then gets very congested again from Ban Phaeo intersection to the bridge over Khlong Tha Raeng canal, a distance of one to two kms, because a lack of parallel lanes on this stretch reduced available lanes from five to three.
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Holidaymakers heading home from Bangkok Bus Terminal. Photos: Naewna
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