The Kėdainiai family had been trapped in Thailand for two months.

It was not expected that everything would change radically

“We’ve been planning a three-week vacation in Thailand from March 4 to 26. I got it, so we only came back on May 4. So we stayed there for two beautiful months, we were probably on vacation a few years later.” D. Genelevičius laughed.

He recalled that before leaving Lithuania, everything was quite calm here.

“Friends asked if we were not afraid to travel. Because we were interested in the current situation, what was happening where and Thailand was not on the list of dangerous countries, we left without fear. It was really safe there, the Kėdainiai resident shared his memories. – When we arrived in Thailand, there were only about 70 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the entire country. For such a large country, this is very little. So we feel completely safe. “

Of course, then, according to the interlocutor, the situation there, as in the rest of the world, began to deteriorate, but they did not emphasize it too much and traveled according to their plan.

“It just happened that in the last place, and we were, apparently, in Krabi, and we had to fly to Bangkok, prepare for the trip home, in Lithuania, maybe a few days ago, quarantine was introduced and information was announced that flights and their flights would be delayed. ” It won’t be, “Darius said. – But we really don’t think that in two or three days the situation will change radically. Therefore, we considered that this period of time would not change anything and we decided to use those remaining days for our rest. But it happened that in those few days, he canceled all the flights we were able to return home. “

Delayed flights

According to Kėdainiai, they could theoretically return when the Lithuanian authorities asked everyone to do so as soon as possible. But in that case, they had to buy other tickets themselves.

“We flew through Moscow with Aeroflot. They operated as they were, no one was banned. And in that case, we did not dare to buy tickets that cost one person more than a thousand euros.

We would have needed to put more than three thousand euros. This is huge money that can be lived in Thailand for probably more than three months because the country is not very expensive.

According to Kėdainiai, they could theoretically return when the Lithuanian authorities asked everyone to do so as soon as possible. But in that case, they had to buy other tickets themselves.

Therefore, not seeing the danger that we will not return, because, as I said, our tickets were not canceled, we stayed the last days in Thailand. But all of a sudden, in a few days, it started and turned around. “

Then the family looked for ways to return to Lithuania or at least to Europe in every possible way.

“When Aeroflot canceled our flight for 26 days, we called Moscow (because the company’s representative office in Lithuania was no longer allowed to speak about flights). The flight was postponed until the 30th and they assured that 99 percent will pass. So we thought a lot, we would spend those extra days in Bangkok or somewhere and we would fly ”, the compatriots waited for their flight without feeling bad.

Every day – in searches

However, the day before the flight, Aeroflot announced that it was also being canceled.

“At first we stayed in a hotel, but then we rented an apartment (one-room apartment with all the comforts) because it is much cheaper.

But all of a sudden, in a few days, he took over and turned around.

Every day we live in search, we follow knowledge. The flights seemed to be there, but it is unclear how real they were. Since we were going alone, we tried to find the tickets ourselves.

We also wrote to Aeroflot, but they couldn’t say anything specific either. Then we turned to a family travel agent who asked for help finding airline tickets. It was already too complicated for them: flights seem to be showing, tickets are on sale and were canceled a day or two ago.

Then, as the agent explained to us, the airlines simply chose the money to survive, and at some point, perhaps in a year, they will give that money away for a bit, ”said D. Genelevičius.

This is how the family lived during the second month of the “holidays”, constantly following the flights: to Norway, Sweden, Germany, Poland, England or another place, only to Europe, closer to home, from where it would be possible to return for someone else conveyance.

“It just came to our attention then. But he still managed to buy a ticket to Germany.

There was also an offer to fly to England, from England to Poland. But again, the flight to England is through Singapore and Singapore does not let anyone in.

It is as if you see that end of the tunnel in such situations, on the other hand, something still does not allow you to see it. There was a lot of global chaos, “recalled the interlocutor.

Also failed with ferry tickets

However, he said, it wasn’t easy here either. “It was not the case that we flew to Germany and from there to Lithuania. In particular, Germany was reluctant to admit people from other countries who were not German citizens.

There was great global chaos.

After receiving a response from the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) that we have the right to (theoretical) transit through Germany, we considered how to return to Lithuania from Germany, because the planes were not flying, we could not return by car, because Poland does not allow anything, it was the only option: Ferry from Kiel. We had to fly to Frankfurt, travel halfway from Germany to Kiel, and then take the ferry back to Lithuania, ”said Darius.

It seems that everything was planned without problems for the trip home after a long vacation. However, the Genelevičiai family was expecting another tense and not very pleasant surprise.

“After finding airline tickets, we ordered tickets for the Kiel-Klaipeda ferry the same day. Because we bought ferry tickets online, it happened that there was an error in the system and we did not credit them.

We contacted the old company in Lithuania, from which we bought tickets, they just regretted that a system error had occurred. They offered other tickets in the near future, which was only about ten days after the plane arrived in Germany, Darius said. – As plane tickets to Germany were bought, we decided to fly to Europe, closer and closer to home.

We plan to stay in a hotel in Germany and wait. But we were still able to get those ferry tickets closer to the date because we were constantly monitoring and following the system. There was no relaxation, still tension. ”

Unpleasant surprises in Germany

Despite all the adventures, the tension was also demanded by a letter sent by a Thai agent the night before the flight.

“She told us that she did not allow boarding passes to be printed on the plane in Bangkok.

This was because we are traveling to Lithuania in transit through Germany, even though we are not its citizens, so we may not be allowed to board the plane as a result. Right on the spot, at Bangkok airport, you should try to talk and negotiate to let it fly. The night before the flight he was almost asleep.

Thanks to the Embassy of Lithuania in Germany, with which we corresponded a couple of days before the flight and who measured our shipment, everything ended well, we flew away, “said the interlocutor about the constant interruptions.

Clearly, the stone was already outside the chest. After a twelve-hour flight, the family landed in Germany.

Right on the spot, at Bangkok airport, you should try to talk and negotiate to let it fly. The night before the flight he was almost asleep.

“We pass passport control and they tell us that we have to leave the country 24 hours a day.” We explained the whole situation to them, but still they said that by law we cannot stay in the country longer than prescribed.

It is good that we have correspondence with the Embassy of Lithuania in Germany, where it was stated that Germany should help us to return home safely and allow the country to pass unhindered, – recalled D. Genelevičius. – We had to prove for a long time that there are no ferry tickets for today, there is only one date for which we have them.

Perhaps they verified this information themselves. We have shown that we have booked a hotel and a shuttle service and that Germany will not distract us. We explained there for maybe an hour until we finally allowed ourselves to stay in the country until we left. “

Visa stress in Thailand

After spending a few days in Germany, the locals boarded a train and then a bus. He reached Kiel and successfully sailed home.

“It just came to our attention then. It would have been a little easier for us to have ridden only in two, and now we were traveling with my seven-year-old daughter, it was a little more complicated,” the man lamented. – At first we considered everything Like an adventure, we don’t value everything very much. But fatigue and stress did their part, the three of us miss home a lot. “

Admittedly, at the end of the conversation, Darius recalled that as he was nearing the end of his Thailand vacation, he had to experience another stress.

During quarantine, a life trip was received.

“Because we need visas to go to Thailand, we only had them for a month.” Therefore, we had to go to the migration department for a few days in a row to extend them.

When we went the first day and passed a long line, maybe a kilometer from six in the morning, we knew that our identity documents alone were not enough. We also need the lease where we are staying, we also need to fill out certain other documents.

We arrived the next morning, even earlier, around 5 p.m. In the morning, we wait again in the heat. Then, almost approaching the great door, the entrance to the immigration department, they told us that today there are already many people and no more clients. I had to go back again after turning around.

There was concern that staying in the country without a visa would be subject to very high fines.

We arrived again on the third day. As our turn approaches, we see people leave one after another, neither happy nor angry. We did not know what to expect, we were anxious again.

It turns out that the Thai authorities have decided that tourist visas will be automatically extended free of charge for the next month, as there are many stranded tourists and the extension of the visas has caused great chaos.

Sure, he could have said it right away that he wouldn’t have to travel and wait that long, but even the government itself was not completely determined on how to proceed. However, in the end he decided that due to the current situation, tourists in the country could be without a visa for another month ”, the interlocutor shared the unpleasant vacation experience.

In Thailand, there is a strict quarantine

The family spent the entire time after the “royal” holidays before the flight in the resort town of Pattaya, where they rented an apartment. According to D. Genelevičius, there was no panic in Thailand when the pandemic started.

“Like Lithuania, they have been very close from the beginning: all the shops, cafes, bars, markets have closed, absolutely everything.

The apartments we rented had a very nice pool, which even closed it. We had to walk a few hundred meters to the sea, but it was also closed, we couldn’t swim.

On April 12, they had to organize a big annual event: escorts for the old and new. The celebration, of course, did not take place at Covid-19.

The use of masks was mandatory and the curfew was introduced starting at 10 p.m. The sale of alcohol was prohibited until 5 pm, and non-compliance with the order was subject to very high fines or even prison, “Darius said of the encounter with the pandemic in the host country.

Exchange losses

Laughing, I asked Darius: Did he “frustrate” Thailand for life? However, even after an extraordinary and tense journey, Darius still lacked a sense of humor.

“Never say Never”. Now my wife and I laugh at what we talked about before we left that it would be a lot of fun to vacation for a couple of months during the winter. That’s what we are talking about: we spent a couple of months in Thailand, only in spring, not in winter, “laughed the interlocutor.

Naturally, living in a foreign country, buying additional tickets, and staying home requires many additional costs. But D. Genelevičius claims that he did not calculate the financial losses until the end.

“At first we tried to count, but then, out of desperation and fatigue, we didn’t count anymore.” We wanted to get home as soon as possible, no matter how much it cost.

Even at home, even your walls help.

We wanted to get home as soon as possible, no matter how much it cost.

Even in Europe itself, you already feel at home: the Kėdainiai resident recalled his impressions. – We landed in Germany, we drove a car, my wife looks out the window and says, “See, there are no more claps” And when we got to Kiel and the ferry, we felt almost at home, because the vast majority of passengers already they were Lithuanian. ”

Covid-19 was not infected

Darius said that they, such trapped travelers from Lithuania, were not the only ones in Thailand. Three pairs of Lithuanians met.

“Some also waited for the flight and stayed there, others simply took their tickets for a later time and decided not to rush the situation anywhere.”

In our case, we might not be very stressed, but there were works, contracts that had to be fulfilled, so we thought we had to rush in some way.

Recently, the walls started to open up a bit, so if we had decided to stay, we probably would have returned only at the end of June ”, D. Genelevičius explained the reason for the rush to get to the house.

When they returned home, the Genelevičiai took the Covid-19 tests: everyone was healthy. But he honestly spent two weeks in quarantine.

Although the daughter asked why other people could walk and they could not, the girl passed patiently at home explaining the situation.

Admittedly, he didn’t experience much stress during the trip itself. Everything was fun for her, a girl, well, only at the end she started to say that she wanted a home, because she was bored, she missed her grandparents, friends, her puppy.

When they returned home, the Genelevičiai took the Covid-19 tests: everyone was healthy.

In short, we are pleased to have an extraordinary holiday. Even St. Easter was different: we rolled eggs in the sand on the beach.

Once again, we made sure that stress and disruption hardened unexpectedly and that there was no way out. You just need to dream responsibly and carefully!

We are very grateful to parents and loved ones for their moral support; friends Asta and Ramūnas for courageous decisions; To the Lithuanian Embassy in Germany for consultation and mediation ”, D. Genelevičius concluded the conversation.