More people heads home at Songkran in 2017

BANGKOK, April 13 (TNA) -- Thailand's Transport Co, Ltd, the state-run provincial bus operators, said the number of passengers traveling during the Songkran Festival or between April 1-13 is as high as 1.85 million. Acting President of Transport Co Pol Gen Amnart Anartngam said the number of passengers at the bus terminals stood at 212,189 yesterday, higher than the predicted figure by the company, as the public begin their journey to their hometowns to celebrate this year's Songkran Festival. He said the company has provided a total of 9,451 bus trips to cater to the high demands yesterday, while today, another 120,000 people are expected to catch a ride for a distance of no more than 300 kilometres from Bangkok, in which the company would be provided buses and public vans to cater to a total of 140,000 passengers. He said the company is confident that the number of would be enough to meet demands today. Pol Gen Amnart noted that a total of 1.85 million passengers have been found to pass through all three bus terminals in Bangkok between April 1-13, 2017, as more people has chosen to travel by provincial buses than drive to their destinations themselves. He said the higher number of passengers choosing to travel to other provinces to celebrate the festival has also hiked the number of customers at the bus terminals then in previous years. The company president then predicted that number of passengers at the terminals would return to normal by tomorrow and many would start their return journey back into the capital on April 15 and excessively on April 17, where the company has already prepared measures to cater to the influx of demands. (TNA)