Exodus to the North and the Northeast caused traffic congestion from early morning as people went on vacation during the extended holiday before the Buddhist Lent.
For the four-day holiday, the cabinet ordered the Highways Department to waive tolls on Highway 7 (Bangkok-Chon Buri) and Highway 9 (Bangkok’s eastern ring road) from 12.01am on July 3 to midnight of July 8 to facilitate traffic flows. The department would lose about 120 million baht of tolls while vacationers are stimulating the national economy.
From July 4 to 7 Transport Co ordered its staff to regularly clean bus terminals to help contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Toilets and benches must be disinfected frequently.
Sorapong Paithoonpong, a board member of Transport Co.,Ltd. said travelers were encouraged to comply with disease control measures by wearing face masks at bus terminals and aboard buses and observing social distancing – keeping themselves at least one meter away from others.