Independence souvenir in Thai too

This year’s Independence Day commemorative souvenir is to be printed in Sinhala, Tamil and English and the Thai language, as the Thai prime minister will be the chief guest at the occasion, sources close to the President’s Office said on Friday.

President Ranil Wickremesinghe has issued instructions to Director General Dinith Chinthaka Karunaratne to prepare the souvenir in four languages to be presented to the dignitaries invited to be present at the 76th anniversary of the Independence Day ceremony to be held at Galle Face.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin who will be the chief guest of the event is scheduled to arrive in the country next Saturday (3), sources said.During his state Prime Minister Thavisin is scheduled to preside the signing of Thai-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement.

This year’s ceremony would be limited only to military parades without any cultural events.The President has instructed that the Thai-Sri Lanka FTA should also be printed as a section of the commemorative souvenir, sources said.