Flights Full As Revellers Return To Bangkok

[george]

Flights full as revellers return to city

Thousands delayed by heavy traffic on roads

BANGKOK: -- Many Songkran festival travellers opted for quick trips back to Bangkok to get ready for work today, with flights from the provinces to the capital fully booked yesterday.

It was reported from Don Muang airport that all seats on all domestic flights to Bangkok were fully occupied, thanks to the overwhelming demand for return trips from travellers who left the city to enjoy the festival over the past week.

Flights of Thai Airways International and Bangkok Airways were full, as well as those of low-fare airlines such as Nok Air and Thai AirAsia.

Twenty Bangkok Airways flights from Koh Samui were fully booked yesterday. Thai Airways International had fully booked flights from Chiang Mai, Udon Thani, Phuket and Hat Yai.

The low-cost airlines that offered special discounts of 20-30% cheaper than their normal ticket prices were fully booked on flights from Udon Thani, Ubon Ratchathani, Surat Thani, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai to Bangkok.

The congested air traffic flow fed domestic arrivals to Don Muang airport all day long yesterday.

On the roads, traffic was heavily congested en route from the Northeast to Bangkok.

It was reported from Nakhon Ratchasima province, the gateway to the Northeast, that the Bangkok-bound lanes of the Mittraphap highway were congested from Ban Phai district in Khon Kaen province via Nakhon Ratchasima to Saraburi province.

A large number of vehicles heading for Bangkok caused traffic jams to stretch for several kilometres ahead of every intersection along this section of the northeastern highway.

A number of vehicles had to be parked beside the highway because they ran out of diesel and the fuel was reportedly unavailable at several petrol stations along the highway.

The heavy congestion delayed bus services between Nakhon Ratchasima and Bangkok.

Consequently, about 10,000 travellers arriving from other northeastern provinces and heading for the capital were stranded at both bus terminals in Nakhon Ratchasima yesterday.

Anusorn Withoorakorn, land transport chief of Nakhon Ratchasima, said that although his office had planned around-the-clock bus services from Nakhon Ratchasima to Bangkok to serve travellers returning to the capital, the delayed arrival of buses from Bangkok had left many passengers stranded in Nakhon Ratchasima.

--Bangkok Post 2006-04-17

[Jai Dee]

Visitors to Chiang Mai packed the airport, train station and bus terminal in the province in making their return trip to BKK

Visitors to Chiang Mai over the Songkran Festival yesterday started heading out of the province, jam-packing the bus terminal while at the same time the Chiang Mai Transport office affirmed it had sufficiently arranged for additional coaches to adequately accommodate demand.

People also crowded into the airport and train station in the province to make return trips to Bangkok, but the bus terminal was the most crowded.

Mr. Charnchai Keelapang (ชาญชัย กีฬาแปง), the head of the Transport Office in Chaing Mai, said that normally there are 80 coach runs from the northern province to Bangkok, but an additional 70 per day were arranged during the Songkran period. These have all been fully booked, and the office has arranged a further 95 buses to the capital. These operate in a manner where each bus would depart the terminal upon having its seats filled.

Mr. Charnchai indicated that the effort would suffice people's travel demand and no passengers would be left behind. He added that much care is placed on each trip, and affirmed that no driver would drink while on duty and there would not be selling of over-priced tickets.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 17 April 2006

[Jai Dee]

Transport Company prepares 1,800 buses to accommodate passengers returning to BKK

The Transport Company LTD has prepared more than 1,000 buses to accommodate travelers returning from their home province during the Songkran Festivals.

Mr. Wuthichat Kanyanamit (วุฒิชาติ กัลยาณมิตร), acting chairman of the Transport Company, revealed that the company has prepared more than 1,000 buses in order to accommodate the more than 100,000 people expected to return from celebrations of the Songkran Festival and the Senate elections.

Mr. Wuthichat adds that he is certain the Transport Company will be able to fully accommodate the passengers making their return trip to Bangkok without much difficulty, and without any passengers being left stranded. Mr. Wuthichat stated that there will also be extra effort to ensure that fake tickets are not being sold around bus depots.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 17 April 2006

[astral]

The congested air traffic flow fed domestic arrivals to Don Muang airport all day long yesterday.

--Bangkok Post 2006-04-17

A weird sentence from the "English Language" Bangkok Post.