Soaring fuel prices are driving up costs for Thais travelling home for the holidays, but the chance to spend the new year with loved ones is a price worth paying, they say.

“There aren’t many opportunities to go home during festivals like this,” said 24-year-old army cadet Korawich Changpat at Bangkok’s Mo Chit Two bus station, despite his inflated fare back to central Chaiyaphum province.

“First of all, I’ll go see my mother. Looking this handsome in my uniform, I must go pay my respects to her,” he told reporters.

Thailand is gearing up for its biggest annual holiday, Songkran, which will run from April 13 to 15.

It celebrates the Buddhist new year with water-splashing festivities that spill out into the streets, representing renewal and rejuvenation.

The run-up began late on Friday as Thais clocked off in the capital and clamoured to motor back to their family homes out in the provinces.