Lithuanian Foreign Vice-Minister discusses a visa-free regime with Thailand’s officials
On 13 October in Bangkok, the Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Neris Germanas met with Veerasak Futrakul, the Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs of Thailand, and Winichai Chaemchaeng, the Vice Minister of Commerce of Thailand. Lithuania’s Foreign Vice-Minister underlined the need to introduce a visa-free regime for the citizens of Lithuania, who travel to Thailand.
Lithuania is among the three countries in the Schengen Area, the citizens of which cannot enter the Kingdom of Thailand for 30 days without a visa. Currently, the Lithuanian citizens who enter Thailand for tourist purposes are eligible to obtain a visa on arrival that allows them to stay 15 days in Thailand. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand stated that though it was not authorized to address the issue of granting a visa-free regime to Lithuania, it would draw the competent authorities’ attention to the situation and hoped to be able to make Lithuanian citizens glad by facilitating their entry procedures in the short run.
The Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Futrakul thanked his Lithuanian counterpart for receiving the Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn in Lithuania in April beautifully and noted that this visit had been widely reflected by the Thai media and had increased awareness of Lithuania among the Thai people.
Germanas also met with the Vice Minister of Commerce to discuss economic cooperation, exchange visits of business delegations, foreign direct investment, presented the potential of the Lithuanian transport infrastructure and Klaipėda State Seaport. The officials agreed to deepen cooperation in the fields of science, innovation and technology, and to strengthen ties between universities in Lithuania and Thailand. Germanas also informed the Vice Minister of Commerce about Lithuania’s achievements in the fields of information technology, life sciences, renewable energy and laser production.
The Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand paid a return visit to Lithuania on 14-16 April of this year. The representative of the Thai Royal Family met with the President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė, visited the National Open Access Scholarly Communication and Information Centre, Vilnius University.
Lithuania’s Foreign Vice-Minister is visiting Thailand on 12-14 October, where he is participating in the 21st ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting.
