Thailand's southern transport routes mostly return to normal

BANGKOK, September 6 (TNA) - Thailand's southern transport routes, both for bus and train services, have mostly resumed since Friday morning, after protesting rubber farmers opened them on Thursday evening. Passenger buses running on main routes in lower and upper southern Thai provinces, as well as those running in coastal provinces along the Andaman Sea have resumed their operations, except buses on the Hat Yai-Surat Thani route, where protesters continued to block Asian Highway No. 41 at Khuan Nong Hong Intersection in Cha-uat district of Nakhon Si Thammarat province earlier on Friday. Southern trains have also resumed, except the rapid train number 170 between Yala and Bangkok which has been left stranded in the capital before resuming its service on September 7. There was, however, reportedly a small number of passengers at the Hat Yai train station on Friday morning because most people did not know that train services were restored. Meanwhile, the Phatthalung train station was congested, as a large number of people were boarding trains to nearly Nakhon Si Thammarat, Surat Thani and Chumphon provinces. (TNA)