I'm being told public transportation buses/railway station is closing for the entire month of April? Has anyone else heard this? Just hearsay?
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TLDR : Answer Summary
Concerns have been raised regarding the operation of public transportation in Thailand for April, primarily due to COVID-19. While there are rumors of complete closures, the reality is that services are being significantly reduced. Long distance trains are cancelled, domestic flights have seen massive reductions, and buses must operate at half capacity, making many routes unfeasible. Some provinces, like Phuket, have fully sealed their borders, complicating travel even further. Travelers are advised to stay informed as the situation is fluid and official announcements may change swiftly.
Dtoon *********
Michael *********
The man who died on the Hat Yai-bound Thaksin Express late night 30 MAR and whose fluids later tested positive for COVID-19, may have prodded the SRT to make this sudden announcement.
It's not just rumours, not closing entirely but being scaled back phenomenally. All long distance air-con and sleeper trains are cancelled. The vast majority of domestic flights are cancelled, including all from Air Asia who stopped flying today. Buses are being mandated to operate at 50% capacity for social distancing reasons, so this makes many routes uneconomic. GreenBus which is probably the largest carrier in Chiang Mai has completely suspended its service for the month. While many of those those that are running are completely booked up, because there are only 50% of seats. On top of all this- a number of provinces, such as Phuket, have completely sealed the borders (Phuket- land and sea already, air is almost stopped and stops completely 10th) so you can't get in or out even in a private vehicle.
So if not absolute, it's getting very very difficult to travel inside Thailand. The British Embassy sent out a warning about this.
I'm not sure it means anything about any specific public transport except, as stated in the article, that all public transport in the four Southern provinces - Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and Phuket will be closed. It is probably a good indication that the rest of the country will soon implement similar restrictions though.