After five days of the Songkran holiday road accidents have claimed the lives of 194 people and injured 2,274 others, the Road Safety Centre reported yesterday.

Songkhla province currently has the worst record with 10 fatalities.

Since the holiday began there have been 2,028 accidents, down 315 on last year's 2,343, said Deputy Interior Minister Sermsak Pongpanit, in his capacity as the centre's deputy director.

The death toll of 194 is down from last year's 239, and the injury figure of 2,274 down from last year's 2,595, he said.

In second place on the provincial list of fatalities is Nakhon Ratchasima with nine, followed by Rayong with eight, and Chiang Mai, Nakhon Pathom and Phitsanulok, which each have six, Sermsak said.

On Tuesday alone there were 484 accidents killing 56 people and injuring 523 others, Sermsak said. Slightly over a third of the accidents resulted from drunk driving followed by speeding and cutting in front of other vehicles while overtaking.

The majority of the accidents - mostly involving motorcycles - took place on minor roads between 4pm and 8pm, he said.

Checkpoints around the country have so far stopped 781,985 vehicles and charged 33,427 drivers, mostly for riding a motorcycle without a helmet.

Meanwhile, a source from the Transport Co Ltd said he expected 272,000 passengers to pass through Bangkok's Mor Chit bus terminal 2 yesterday.

The company laid on 2,400 extra buses - 55 per cent more than usual - to cope with the increased demand.

A further 200,000 travellers were expected to use the bus terminal today, the source said.

Bangkok's Hua Lamphong train station also saw a heavy flow of travellers yesterday, with the State Railway of Thailand governor, Chitsanti Dhanasobhon, laying on an additional 29 express trains to accommodate an estimated 25,000 travellers a day over the holiday period. Most people are travelling to the North and Northeast.

As people headed back to their hometowns in the Northeast by road, stretches of the Mitraparb Highway in the gateway province of Nakhon Ratchasima suffered severe congestion.

Breathalyser tests were given to bus drivers at Nakhon Ratchasima bus terminal, said Land Transport Department's deputy director Ronnayuth Thangruamsab, who also urged the public to report any speeding or reckless bus drivers along with their registration numbers to the hotline number 1584.

Meanwhile, three women were killed and six others seriously wounded yesterday morning in Nakhon Ratchasima's Pak Chong district, after their pickup truck plunged into a roadside canal and hit a water pipeline.

The passengers had left Nonthaburi to join a monk-ordination ceremony in Pak Chong. Driver Singfa Saetiew, who was also injured, is thought to have dozed off behind the wheel.

In related news, the weather bureau yesterday warned that heavy rains, hail storms and strong winds may hit the northern region between now and Sunday.

Residents of Chiang Rai, Chiang Mai, Mae Hong Son, Phayao, Nan, Phrae, Lampang, Lamphun, Uttaradit, Phitsanulok, Petchabun, Phichit, Sukhothai, Kamphaeng Phet and Tak should therefore be prepared for the possible bad weather, while motorists passing through those provinces should exercise caution.