Preparations for Loy Krathong Festival in Thailand set

BANGKOK, November 14 (TNA) - The Thai government, through the Ministry of Transport, is laying out measures in good place in preparations for this year's Loy Krathong Festival in order to welcome international celebrants. Peraphon Thawornsupacharoen, Director General of the ministry's Department of Land Transport, told journalists on November 13 that the measures include the provision of sufficient passenger buses, namely city buses, shuttle buses and interprovincial buses, to meet public demand during next week's Loy Krathong Festival in Thailand and thorough checkups of all the buses and their drivers to ensure public safety. Besides, an official global positioning system (GPS) management center has been assigned to conduct its 24-hour monitoring of driving speeds of all the passenger buses, with those found breaching legal speed limits in separate areas or having behaviors considered unsafe to passengers, and/or other people, to be urgently stopped to timely prevent road accidents or reduce casualties during this year's Loy Krathong Festival. "All passenger buses on services during the upcoming Loy Krathong Festival must been insured for road accidents and casualties and must have legally-required safety systems fully-equipped aboard, including safety belts, emergency exits and fire extinguishers, while their drivers must hold valid driving licenses, have their working hours set only within the physical safety standard timeframe and must have the alcohol level in their blood tested at "zero" milligram-per cent", the senior official stressed. The senior official said he has also ordered all bus terminals nationwide to assign sufficient staff members on duty to take care of passengers in their areas, including notifying them to wear safety belts aboard their buses and be aware of the official hotline, 1584, through which they can contact 24 hours for their inquiries, complaints or tip-offs. "The official hotline, 1584, is opened for the general public, international visitors and passengers of all types of public vehicles, including passenger buses, taxis and motorcycle taxis, with those found guilty of breaching rules and regulations, through grounded evidence, to be legally-punished at the maximum level", vowed the senior official. According to the senior official, although Thailand's Loy Krathong Day 2018 falls on November 22, the tightened measures will be implemented during November 21-23, considered as this year's Loy Krathong Festival when a large number of Thai people and foreign visitors travel to celebrate the annual festivity to be organized in areas and tourist destinations nationwide. (TNA)