Why I booked to Thailand? I had a fuzzy idea of the country. I did not think too much of my trip .I did not have many choices. My goal was to find a way to my safety and an eventual tranquility. Unexpectedly I have found the passport way.

When you land at Bangkok airport you will be impressed. This impression will be different if you come from another part of the world. But for Thai people if you are not Asian or black you are considered (falang), a lucky creature with a big nose! You will be respected. I have found this fair; I come from a third-world country. In the northern part of the planet I am a non-grata person. But here people gift you plenty of (sawasdi), and the warmth of their soul.

It seamed to me that I have found safety, freedom and peace. I was happy, me who did not felt that life has to be lived worthily since many years. I dreamed to see my country as peaceful as Thailand. I wished it would not be awaiting for that too long. It was a matter of patience and I will go back to my family. Ah Bangkok !

A year turned over and the turmoil still devastating lives back at home. I started to be impatient of my fate& . The procedures the Bangkok UNHCR were too complicated .I have been going and coming to the office each month, each 2-month and finally I have been said to wait a call. I was tormented to wait. I discovered that waiting is the most terrible punishment a man can get. Waiting until when? A prisoner knows he is waiting for a limited time to see the exterior world .It was not my case.
After renewing my visa three times I was in an overstay situation .The worse I was warned by the people in the "bleu house" association for refugee assistance, That at the doors of the UNHCR the immigration police were trapping refugees!! Falling in their hands means getting status of a forgotten prisoner .

Stories of unfortunate people were related daily. The first they check the guy has money or not, then they give him a cell phone asking him to call friends to pay for him. When there is no way to find that large sum starts the second step. There is in each community a dealer to be contacted to reach the prisoners buddies. In Bangkok it's an ordinary request to help with whatever you can to collect money to free someone. The dealer will look as a good and generous man; maybe he will participate in donating. But he is making business; he will get a percentage up to 30% of the paid ransom.

If no passport or visa you can go free by paying less then $30 to the street police but if taken to police station you have to pay up $300. These will be higher if stopped by an immigration or tourist police agent, in the street you should pay the $300 if not then up to $3000 in the department office. If you will not pay or somebody does it for you instantly you will see a terrible day. They will not drop you in any kind of holding room. You will be kept a whole day or two in the main room getting questioned. They fail making a file for you taking pictures, fingerprinting and weighing you&but nothing is taken seriously, all that is a pressure for money.

They are afraid of the time to interfere an outsider, the dealer, and see their share reduced. In any case they don't care about law ! Money only money . you are violating law but they will not apply it only in one case. It's their last chance. Sometimes an old prisoner gets to pay a ransom. To free him they will need someone to fill the gape and keep the exact number of jail guests ! They will sell you to their bribed coworkers.
If there is no diplomatic representation of your country, or your embassy does not care about you .you will see the hell.

More than a year since I have lost my passport. I was always afraid. My looking and the areas I frequented kept away all their suspicions towards me. Being to "the risky areas,"- when it was necessary to be there -was always in morning time .The hunters go out the evening.

In these circumstances I started to take interest in smuggling stories. Smuggling is a wealthy industry in Thailand. Thousands of people took their first step here. You feel as everybody is smuggling .The account of the guy who smuggled a 1/4 million people was the top of the activity. The other guy who was boarding up to 30 passengers with fake passports in one plane had a business number of two millions us$, His period was less fortunate.

When the Thai airports were under US, Australian and European supervision came the search of other exits. Malaysian, Singaporean, Hong Kong and Taiwanese airports took the relief for a time. Finally came Asia mainland. China still considers foreign supervisors in its airports a kind of national shame. The country has a flourishing airline routing to all over the world. With the opening of the country to tourism smugglers found it easy to infiltrate. The Chinese officers mainly don't speak English and they lack expertise in detecting fake travel documents. It 's the same case in Lao, Cambodia, Vietnam and even Thai border checking points.

Smugglers: the new slave trader

As many times hearing these stories one gets huge knowledge in the matter and is attempted of an adventure& Pratunam and Sukhomvit, soi 3 : were places where I should start my quest. The bus number 2 dropped me in Sukhomvit rd, close to Soi 3. At the beginning we get the impression that we are in a Middle East or Indian street. There, shops, restaurants and faces are worldwide. I get confused. Watching was the strategy to let others start with me instead of any adventure in an unknown environment.

At an open cafe restaurant I sat and ordered a drink. Not so long I was talking to a guy who sat to the next table. Conversation starts of introductions and whether I am in some business , in holidays or ... travel. I knew he was expecting me to say "travel"; so, I made my first connection. Others, latter come. I was a fresh easy hunt in their minds.

This is how I entered the world of fallaciousness. Sure my co-speakers found me not an easy prey, an ignorant will see such persons a kind of" people with extraordinary talents". They were - for me - just smugglers or working for hidden smugglers. They were worse than any slave traders or proxenetists . I didn't have the simple idea of the new world I was entering . Because I was European looking, and good French and English speaking I have got smugglers soliciting me to "carry" their " passengers " to Japan, North America or Europe. I have been introduced to some westerners doing the job. A guy like me , in my situation - is more trustworthy and less paid . They suggested to provide me with a fake passport . I will be sold to any immigration bureau in the region , unless I 'll stay under their control . By principle I was fully against the idea . IF eventually I will hold a fake passport it will be only to save myself.

I learned what are an altered passport and a copy passport . A guy proposed a copy passport for us $ 800.00 . A copy passport is different from an altered passport. It's not issued by any state. It's a duplicate. You fill it with any information you want . For instance the Spanish copy is almost a perfect one. In mid eighties till the mid nineties copy passports worked extraordinarily . Lately it begins a risk for smuggling activities . Nevertheless it still remains a perfect tool for banking crimes. I learnt this and more by the time. Many tried to convince (dupe) me. I kept patient and waited . This kind of passport turned to cost $ 170.00 us.

Finally I opted for a Dutch altered passport . The less used and the cheapest . It's the hardest to forge . The (book) was brand new and fitting nicely, except the original holder was 7 cm taller than me. I bargained and got it for $ 350.00 us . The next step was to (work it). It was not difficult to reach the best man in this domain. After a call we met in a coffee chop in the famous Kao San St . I got my photo substituted for $ 100.00 us the next day .

Now come the gambling step. Must have a Thai entry visa to enable the use of the passport to exit the country . The information I collected alerted me that this is the riskiest part of the adventure . The connection must be a Thai immigration officer and must do it fast to have enough stay to well claim being a good visitor. In those days there were rumors attesting that there was a double check on all entry visas from the airport. Those, which they don't figure on the airline passenger lists , were considered fake and subject of corruption . Many "victims " were declared in soi 3 . Even if still who affirm that his visa will stand behind the "recheck". The alternative was to get the entry visa on the land borders. There want be any kind of recheck. There are no passenger lists. The Malaysian border,in the south, was a perfect choice .otherwise,in the northern borders, anyone must have visa issued prior entering those countries .

It was not wise to take the risk and trip south with a passport that has no entry stamp at all ; while I knew how much "excitement" I will have on the passport-way . I said to myself let us reverse the situation . Let's find a border checking points with no computering . After some search on the internet I discovered more than three on Lao border. I looked for a connection to the safest immigration officer and I got the entry visa . I was quiet that I have the important step done .
Along the 15 days later I was the unfortunate " other man" with a new name, date of birth and citizenship . I remember how difficult to memorise the Dutch names of royal family and the government members. I spent hours to learn everything about The Netherlands . It was not possible finding any documentation . But thanks God the Internet cafes are everywhere and cheap (15 bahts /h).

All the information and the learning I gathered gave me satisfaction. I was well prepared and my physiognomy and my communication skills were my asset . I had in mind that there is always some percentage of failure .

I choosed Mukdahan a small locality on the bank of the Mekong River opposite to Suwannakhet, 642 kilometers from Bangkok, as the exit point .To arrive in the morning it's a must to take a night bus . The only inconvenience is to miss the splendid landscape of northern Thailand. The bus was comfortable and the road very good . As far I got from Bangkok the air was fresher and healthier. The morning, after 12 hrs I was in the small city. I was the only falang there . The main exits used by tourists and smugglers were to the west : changmai and Nong khai . Smiles were everywhere. Tourists were very awaited in this part of the country with the hope to see it developed as the other parts where visitors are attracted. I felt excited and courageous.

After a quick breakfast a tuktuk drove me towards the border. I should take the first crossing boat to the Laotian border. As I entered the checking point I felt my heart bumping , I heard it , felt everybody did so ; my skin pricked me terribly . So was my situation every time I saw a policeman or an immigration officer in my passport-way . This is the first when I gambled I won , every thing passed safely. There was no computer there !