Thailand's New Year celebrants start traveling

BANGKOK, December 30 (TNA) - New Year celebrants in Thailand have started traveling, causing airports, bus terminals and train stations to be packed with passengers. Thailand's main Suvarnabhumi International Airport, for instance, the airport's Director Sirote Duangrat told journalists on Wednesday that the Suvarnabhumi International Airport is expected to serve up to about 170,000 international passengers daily from December 25, 2015 to January 5, 2016, about 100,000 higher than its normal daily figure, and the international New Year celebrants are, thus, advised to arrive at the airport some two hours prior to their scheduled departure flights. Sirote said apart from increasing inbound and outbound flights at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport to 955 flights daily during the period, from 800-900 flights daily on its normal basis, other measures have also been prepared to facilitate international passengers at the airport, including beefed-up security in all aspects and a free 24-hour shuttle service in its compound every 15 minutes. At Bangkok's Mo Chit Bus Terminal, Nopparat Karunyawanich, Acting Chief of Transport Company Limited told reporters that people have been leaving the capital since Wednesday morning, causing the main bus terminal to have been crowded with inter-provincial passengers. Nopparat estimated that up to 150,000 passengers should leave Bangkok on December 30 alone and his state-run company has increased inter-provincial service by 1,400 bus trips a day to 8,100 trips a day during the ongoing New Year Festival. The Thai government, through the Ministry of Interior, has, in the meantime, opened an ad-hoc command centre on road safety in which the ministry's Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation is working together with other agencies concerned in an integrated manner to prevent and reduce road accidents during December 29, 2015-January 4, 2016, through strict law enforcement, campaigns on creating public awareness on safe travels and daily reports on operations to prevent and reduce road accidents. Meanwhile, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith reported that there were 439 road accidents nationwide on December 29 alone, killing 39 people and injuring 456 others. According to the minister, most of the road accidents, or 26.94 per cent, were caused by drunk driving, followed by violations to speed limits at 19.56 per cent, with motorcycles involving in up to 89.22 per cent of the road accidents. The minister revealed that most road accidents and injuries were slated in Chiang Mai Province in the Thai North, at 17 and 19 respectively, while the peak death toll was four in Mukdahan Province in the Thai Northeast. In a related development, Royal Thai Army Deputy Spokeswoman Colonel Sirichan Nga-thong told a press conference that the army-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has confiscated 269 vehicles for drunk driving during December 25-29, 2015, comprising 213 motorcycles and 56 cars. The spokeswoman also asked for public cooperation on strictly following official guidances for the sake of their safety during the ongoing New Year Festival. (TNA)