Nonsense Visas for Nonsense Borders

Sometimes I can’t believe I’m still living in this age where there are borders, visas, governments, armies, police and all that goes with this mass illusion we wrongly call civilization. I have been feeling we’ll be done with these quite soon and I still believe that. But it seems it’s not time just yet.

Last year I went to China. It was really smooth. I went to the embassy in Bangkok, filled in a form, paid some money and returned 4 days later to receive my passport back with a sticker inside. No questions asked. It was funny to go by boat from Thailand to China on the Mae Kong river, which is the border between Myanmar and Laos. It’s like walking on the thin line people draw on the map and say “this is one country and this is another” as if when you are on that line you could tell one side from the other.

Then this year in April, just the day I was going to buy tickets for Macau on the way to China, there was the main news that China changed the visa regulations because of the Olympics. I had thought Olympics would make it even easier for foreigners to go to China but it was just the opposite. They asked to see hotel reservations and return tickets, neither of which any serious traveler in such a vast country has. It meant that for the Olympics they only wanted tourists and not travelers. But more than that, they had some other new rules such as “passport holders of Asian countries can take China visas in their home country only”. And this didn’t apply to Malaysia which I saw as my current home unless I had a working visa there. I had to go back to Turkey in order to go from Malaysia to China! After the Olympics, I heard, they changed the visa laws back to the traveler-friendly earlier one and everybody took a deep breath. It was almost unseen in this region and perhaps just an arrangement for only once.

Lately I’ve been planning to go to Taiwan. As soon as I arrived in Malaysia I started to call the consulate but first the numbers were wrong and then I could only talk to robotic ladies which would connect me to non-answering departments. I sent an e-mail which also received no answers. Finally I went to the office for China Airlines and got a more private number of the consulate. I rang and managed to actually talk to a real living being. She asked me my nationality, made me wait a few minutes, asked if I’m working here, made me wait a few more minutes and in the end returned and said, “we can give you a visa only if you have a working visa in Malaysia, otherwise you have to get it from Turkey.” If I had a working visa here, I’d be working and wouldn’t be going to Taiwan for a month, would I? It’s kind of similar to that you have to prove you don’t need money in order to get credit from the bank. It is nonsense.


And I sit and think. Taiwan’s official name is Republic of China, as oppose to People’s Republic of China where visa is an easier story, and I had of course imagined it to be a more free country than China but it turne out to be a Beurocrat’s Republic of China. And in the end it’s supposed to be the same country anyway. All these Malay people who inhabit Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and other countries in the region have their root sin Taiwan. But Taiwan still has some openness to learn from these countries.

Malaysia gives 3 months permit at the border to any foreigners for free. Indonesia charges some and gives a visa on entry for one month or in the embassy for two months. Philippines gives three weeks free at the border which can be extended up to two years without leaving the country. Do these countries feel more secure that they can invite people like that? Do Taiwan have more terror than them so it has to keep things in control? Does it make sense?

Perhaps I should look into my passport, the only one I can get because I was born within certain borders. It’s the passport of Turkey, a medium sized country in the Middle East. Aha, Middle East. Perhaps that’s why. Everybody knows about muslims terrorists and although they didn’t strike Taiwan yet, who knows they can sometime soon. Does it make sense at all?

So I changed my plans and decided to go to Thailand, which gives one month free visa at the border, and see some friends and do ameditation retreat toclear this energy. And I think “Thailand must be pretty deserted now because of this airport occupation of the most anti-democratic democracy movement. They’ll be happy to see another foreigner and I’ll be happy to see less.” But then, in the evening I learned that they changed the visa policy! Now they give only 15 days on the land borders. If you fly in you get 30 days but if you come overland it is only 15 days or you have to get a visa in the embassy. This is so absurd. Why now of all times when the country is suffering an unseen 50% tourist loss? It doesn’t make any sense.

So I decided not to stay so long in Thailand, let them loose me, and go to Myanmar for a month for which I need to get another visa. I heard a friend was refused a visa there last month and he assumes it is because his passport was from USA and USA supports the opposition in Myanmar. I wonder if they know about muslims. I hope they don’t.Muslims don’t care about human rights anyway so I guess they’d be getting along pretty well.

Long time I have stopped considering traveling in Europe because the treatment they give in the consulates in Turkey is simply inhuman. I refuse to be treated like that. So I’ve been happy in Asia where the countries are not saturated with illegal immigrants from Turkey or scared of muslims. But this last visa troubles I had with two Chinas is making me consider eliminating Chinas from my map also. They’ll be loosing, not me :)

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Revision, December 29, 2008, Bangkok

Just to prove the absurdity of all theses "absolute" laws and regulations, today I received my 60 days visa for Taiwan. As soon as I arrived in Bangkok I called the consulate, got to a real person pretty fast, and the nice lady replied me with the words "you just come here, fill in the form, pay the fee and pick it up later." But, but, the embassy in KL even sent me an official enough e-mail containing a long list of requirements such as invitation, reservation, return plane ticket, proof of funds and the worst of all resident visa in Malaysia. I asked to the lady on the phone and she giggled "no, no, you don't need to buy your ticket or anything, we only need your bank statement."

So I went there the next day, had a brief and nice interview, mostly about the reasons behind my continuous traveling and the lack of Turkish visitors in Taiwan. Then today I received it. I'm really happy about it.

So what was wrong in Malaysia? Perhaps they had the Muslim Alarm on, or only business travelers fly from Malaysia to Taiwan, as oppose to genuine tourists who fly from Thailand. In any case this goes to prove one thing: even when the officer behind the desk is telling you it is just the law and there is nothing he can do about it, he may be wrong or just trying to avoid you. Laws are not absolute; they bend. And as conscious people we'll help them bend wherever they can.