It's all aboard again down South

Thanongsak Pongprasert, supervisor for the southern region, said local routes and trunk routes to Bangkok were open again, except the Bangkok-Butterworth line, which was expected to resume in a couple of days.

The State Railway of Thailand labour union, which struck for two weeks to show solidarity with the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy, agreed late last week to go back to work.

At Yala Station a merchant taking goods to Narathiwat's Suangai Kolok district said yesterday she was very happy about the resumption of services, which include free trips in 3rd-class carriages. During the strike she spent Bt500 on road transport, which left her little profit, she said.

The move came earlier than expected: SRT governor Yuthana Thapcharoen had said services would not resume until tomorrow as all systems, locomotives, tracks and ticket offices needed to be thoroughly safety-checked.

"Insurgents may have removed bolts or planned other kinds of attack," he said.