AM I A CRIMINAL?

Times when a resemblance can turn your world upside down...

I have asked myself this question whenever immigration officials studiously check my passport. I have got used to such treatment, which actually starts back at home. I had to ask this question again when I found everyone of my fellow passengers cleared immigration except me. Malaysian immigration insisted that I need a visa to enter Thailand. I told them about what the Thai embassy in KL told me. They replied that I could get an exit chop only if I get a visa at the other end. I went to Thai immigration only to find that the checkpoint was too small to issue visa on arrival. He asked me to goto another checkpoint about 100 kilometers away from there. He gave me an option. I could enter Thailand without a visa. But, he asked me to leave the passport with him, which I could collect on my way back. I was not ready to take such a risk. I thanked him for the offer but declined it.

It was a classic case of being so close yet so far. I bid goodbye to my friends who left rather hesitantly. I was standing at the Malaysia �" Thailand border embarrassed and frustrated by the way I had been treated. Every instinct in me pleaded with my intellect to abandon the trip and go back to my place. It was then I decided that I was not going to allow some irresponsible female in thai embassy, and a bunch of officials at the checkpoint to spoil my holiday. I was bent upon going to Thailand, even if it meant walking all the way to the other checkpoint.

I was trying to convince myself that I had a magnetic personality, which worked only with immigration officials. I was so angry that I wanted to kill every person in the immigration checkpoint. But, considering the numerical superiority of the opponents, I decided discretion would be better than valor. I was so pissed off; I went looking for a tandas �" Malay word for toilet. I washed my face and looked at the mirror. Now, I could understand why I was treated that way. I looked like the famous Osama, without the beard and a pair of spectacles.

I came out of the toilet, an enlightened man. I was not angry with anybody. I just wanted to go to Thailand and see the islands. I started looking around for a lift out of the forest. One old man offered to take me with him in his car. At that moment, I knew I would reach Thailand safely. I was beginning my trip riding entirely on my luck and other people’s kindness.