BANGKOK– Road traffic has been very heavy today, due to many people leaving for northern and northeastern provinces. Many have chosen to use Mittraphap road to travel to the Northeast, making for slow and heavy traffic. Special lanes have been congested as well. Some pickup trucks carry a bicycle, a refrigerator or a TV set for their relatives in the provinces. The roads to the Northeast were expected to be heavily congested throughout today and to be much the same in a few days when most of the same people return to Bangkok.
Transport Minister SaksayamChidchob and Deputy Transport Minister AthiratRatanaset, flew by helicopter to view the traffic on major roads to the Northeast, including Bang Pa-in elevated highway, Klang Dong-Muak Lek area in Saraburi, Lamtakong area in Nakhon Ratchasima, and Sikhiu elevated way. Special lanes have been opened to relieve the traffic congestion along major roads.
They landed in Khlong Phai subdistrict of Sikhiu district of Nakhon Ratchasima province and delivered their policy for the prevention and reduction of road accidents during the New Year season. On Sisaket-Yang Chumnoi road in the capital district of Sisaket province, SuksomruayWanthaniyakul, secretary to the transport minister, visited officials at a road service point and offered them moral support.
In the North, traffic on Highway No. 117 has been heavy since yesterday afternoon with most vehicles coming from Bangkok through Nakhon Sawan province, Phichit province and Phitsanulok province. A road service point has been set up outside the Wachirabaramee office of the Highways Department. Phichit police are at service points along secondary roads to ensure that no drivers violate the traffic rules by failing to wear a helmet on a motor bike or use a safety belt when driving a car or pickup.
In the South, officials of a military and civilian task force at a road checkpoint in Baan Khlong Sai Nai village in the capital district of Yala province have been handing out sweets to drivers headed for Yala town and calling on them to drive safely and follow the traffic rules in effort to reduce the number of road accidents. They also provide a rest area for drivers, with drinking water and coffee avilable for travelers.
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