Yoga teacher stuck in Thailand, barred from flight home due to passport issue: ‘Just praying I can get back’
It shredded any hope of returning home.
A UK yoga teacher was reduced to tears after getting stuck in Thailand due to a tiny rip in her passport.
“I never thought a tear would be such a problem for me,” Rosie Viscomi, 27, told Kennedy News while detailing getting stranded abroad.
The Norfolk resident had been staying on the idyllic Thai island of Koh Pha-ngan since April having just obtained her yoga certification in India.
During her Southeast Asian stopover, the yogi had been learning more about her passion, as well as doing volunteer work.
Viscomi eventually decided to return home to Norfolk earlier this month, booking a multi-stop flight that would take her through Bangkok, India and Turkey before finally arriving in London.
While certainly a roundabout route, it was nothing compared to the odyssey that would befall her in Bangkok.
Upon arrival at the Thai capital’s airport on July 4, the Brit was denied entry by the IndiGo Airlines staff due to a “1 centimeter” tear on the photo page of her passport.
“When I went to go for my flight on Thursday, they said, ‘You’re not going anywhere with that,’ referring to a small rip in my passport, and I said, ‘Well it was already like this,'” Viscomi recalled. “They told me India won’t let me in and I need to book a direct flight from Bangkok to London.”
An airline spokesperson told Kennedy News that the traveler was “unable to board as their passport was found to be damaged.”
The Post has reached out to IndiGo Airlines for comment.
The yoga practitioner found the issue especially vexing given that it hadn’t been a problem on prior flights, including trips to the US, Jamaica and her most recent jaunt to Thailand.
The mishap caused Viscomi to miss her flight, which cost her around $470, she said. On top of that, authorities claimed her visa was expired despite the fact that she claimed to have extended the visa just days before.
“Immigration are saying that they could charge me £320 [about $410] on top of the flight cost because I’ve overstayed my visa,” rued the globetrotter. “My 60-day visa had run out for Thailand, so I had to go to the Cambodia border to extend my visa.”
She added, “Everything was fine, then at the airport they told me that I didn’t get the right stamps and I was here illegally.”
The “stressful” situation reportedly reduced the poor gal to tears.
“There’s so many complications, I was at immigration just crying, and everyone kept saying there’s nothing they can do,” she said. “I just want to go home — it seems like more and more problems keep arising.”
Fearful of getting arrested, Viscomi communicated with Thai immigration and the UK Embassy to arrange her safe passage home — a process that’s cost her hundreds of pounds.
“I don’t actually have any money left — I did not account for this extra expense,” lamented the teacher, who said her predicament was particularly painful as she was unemployed.
Viscomi’s sister subsequently created a GoFundMe campaign to help cover her travel expenses.
The beleaguered yogi said she finally managed to fly home from Thailand on July 9, Kennedy reported.
Despite the grueling ordeal, Indigo representatives claim they were just following protocol.
“IndiGo followed the guidelines by the regulatory authorities and offered requisite assistance to the customer,” said the representative. “Customers are advised to familiarize themselves with such guidelines, which may differ from country to country.”