Police will prohibit lorries - with 10 wheels or more - on three highways linking Bangkok with the Northeast during the Songkran travel period.
Pol Maj Gen Yingyos Thepjamnong, deputy spokesman of the Royal Thai Police, said Wednesday that the ban would be imposed from April 11 to 17 on Mitrapharp Highway, Highway 304 from Kabin Buri district of Prachin Buri to Pak Thong Chai district of Nakhon Ratchasima, and Highway 348 from Aranyaprathet district of Sa Kaeo to Buri Ram province.
The provinces affected by the ban will be Saraburi, Prachin Buri, Sa Kaeo, Nakhon Ratchasima and Buri Ram provinces.
Pol Maj Gen Ekarak Limsangkat, commander of the Special Branch Bureau's third division, said the measure was aimed at relieving traffic congestion for travellers, especially natives of the Northeast, journeying between Bangkok and the Northeast and between the East and the Northeast.
The measure would alleviate traffic problems caused by construction and bottlenecks on roads to the Northeast, he said.
It should reduce the number of 10-wheelers on the routes from 5,000 to 2,500 a day, and a trip between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima should take less than five hours during the period, Pol Maj Gen Ekarak said.
However, big lorries carrying petrol, farm products and seafood will be exempt from the ban. Other operators who really need to use big lorries on the routes during the period can seek permission in advance on a case by case basis from police stations in the five provinces, Pol Maj Gen Ekarak said.
