British yoga teacher stranded in Bangkok airport over passport tear

[khunjeff]

1 hour ago, digbeth said:

would the transfer gate be available only for connecting flights that your luggage can be booked through

 

Generally, yes. 

 

1 hour ago, digbeth said:

not sure if such facility is available to low cost airlines, I don't think it's even available to transfer luggage between low cost flight even if it's on the same airline even, say you connect at Bangkok, you have to collect your bag and check in again

 

It's up to the airline - I've checked my bags through on Indian low cost carriers when transiting through India en route to another country.

 

Transit through Bangkok is the same - some low cost carriers will transfer your bags to your connecting flight, and others say you have to do it yourself.

[Powder]

really unbelievable, like a child, unprepared and acting like "i thought like this and that".

And the family help her, not really, with crowdfunding. Its weird, most of the time its a Brit. Do they leave their brain at home when going for a holiday. And they act that its normal that crowdfunding is the best thing to do.

This girl lived for a long time under a rock. 

 

Edited July 10 by Powder

[Andycoops]

1 hour ago, Gottfrid said:

Ok, they have such. I never even knew it existed.

Always risky getting multiple single tickets, miss 1 flight and your are Donald Ducked.

Best to buy with the same airline on multiple stops, so much for saving money.

[Trip Hop]

Even if just in transit at not clearing immigration, in cases like this the airline has to obtain confirmation that the other side will accept you before they will allow you to board.  Here they would also have to obtain permission from Turkey and the UK in advance.  A friend had a similar issue some years ago when returning from Prague to the UK via Amsterdam.  Funnily enough the Netherlands were fine but the UK Border Force were the balls ache despite him flying out of there on a return ticket only a few days earlier.   

[BobBKK]

India can be very aggressive in their checks. I bought a beautiful Buddha marble head and a pompous 'Babu' IO office took out his penknife and scratched it on the face leaving a huge indent. The point is they can be very jobsworth over there - she almost certainly would not have been able to enter unless she was very lucky.

[ignore it]

Karma

 

 

But Rosie,  your passport says surname Dalligan not Rosie Viscomi?

[hhaat]

A 27-year-old working adult who has money to travel that far for a holiday, needs to raise 1k GBP from strangers?  All her cards are intact, not lost, money not stolen.  If it is 100k GBP, then I can understand.  1k?  Come on.....

Edited July 10 by hhaat

[arick]

It gets pretty sad that your family can't even get together a few hundred dollars. Maybe next time you shouldn't be traveling unless you have a backup.

[marin]

15 minutes ago, Mugi said:

Yoga teacher mai mee dang.

Go fund me, pleeeese. Me stupid nitnoi.

I would agree with you after that post. You definitely are.

[dougieboy]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

 

A British yoga teacher was stranded at Suvarnabhumi Airport after being barred from boarding her flight home due to a slight tear in her passport.

 

The British woman, 27 year old Rosie Viscomi, had planned to fly back to London from Bangkok last Thursday, July 4. However, she was prevented from boarding her £370 (approximately 17,000 baht) multi-stop flight, which included stops in India and Turkey, after airline officials objected to a 1-centimetre rip on the photo page of her passport. This unfortunate turn of events left Rosie crying at Suvarnabhumi Airport as IndiGo Airlines staff refused her passage.

 

The dance and yoga teacher from Norfolk had been on the Thai island of Koh Pha Ngan since April, after completing her yoga qualification in India.

 

During her stay, she engaged in voluntary work and deepened her yoga knowledge before deciding to return home. Despite having reportedly extended her visa just days prior, Viscomi was informed at the airport that her visa had expired, rendering her stay illegal.

Frantic and fearing arrest, the British traveller spent the last few days liaising with Thai immigration and the British Embassy to arrange her safe return, which has already cost her hundreds of pounds.

“When I went for my flight on Thursday, they said ‘You’re not going anywhere with that,’ referring to a small rip in my passport.

 

“They told me India won’t let me in and I need to book a direct flight from Bangkok to London. I missed my £370 flight and had to apply for emergency documents. I don’t have any money left.”

 

Viscomi, who had previously travelled to America and Jamaica without issues, was shocked by the sudden enforcement.

 

“I didn’t know if they were going to arrest me because I didn’t have the correct stamp. I was at immigration just crying, and everyone kept saying there was nothing they could do. I thought I had all the right visa documents. I just want to go home.”

 

The yoga teacher’s family has stepped in to help with the financial burden. Viscomi’s sister has set up a fundraising page, which has raised £280 of the £1,000 target so far.

 

Meanwhile, Viscomi has managed to secure a new flight and emergency travel documents, hoping to return to England on July 9. IndiGo Airlines has been contacted for comment, reported The Mirror UK.

 

by Puntid Tantivangphaisal

Photo courtesy of Kennedy News and Media

 

Source: The Thaiger 2024-07-10

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

Never mind dear, you will benefit from this (bad) experience and it will leave you better equipped to deal with these matters in the future. Hope you get home soon, then, move on.

Good luck

[steven100]

22 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

Help from strangers not the family?

the family don't want to know her or her yoga 

[norfolkandchance]

No tears though.

[ryandb]

5 minutes ago, ignore it said:

Karma

 

 

But Rosie,  your passport says surname Dalligan not Rosie Viscomi?

 

Probably recently divorced and is now "finding herself" but not updated her legal documents

 

Either way, I'm guessing these stops were overnights or required going through immigration, possible airline changes or there was no visa to enter India (assuming one may be needed) so perhaps doing a little research before buying the cheapest ticket possible.... though considering she had no funds left she probably had little choice than a possible 36 hr multi change flight.

 

Sure if it was direct to England any airline would see its a UK passport and just allow it.

[MalcolmB]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Rosie Viscomi

Doesn’t sound like a British name.

[Ben Zioner]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The yoga teacher’s family has stepped in to help with the financial burden. Viscomi’s sister has set up a fundraising page, which has raised £280 of the £1,000 target so far.

Bad habits die hard..

[Sweet Swede]

About 15 years ago I was stopped in Stockholm because approximatly a third of my picture page had loosened. After some discussions they let me fly and said that it will be up to Thai immigrration if they would acccept it, but they did not notice it. The passport was only 2 years old. To avoid further problems I applied for a new Passport at the Embassy. The new passport was free, becausse my pasport was part of a batch that was defect. To my dissapointment the start date was the same as the old passport and my travel epenses to apply for and pick up the new passport were not covered even if it was a known batch with defect passports. But it learned me to treat the passport with extreme care.

[Ben Zioner]

11 minutes ago, norfolkandchance said:

No tears though.

OP says she was in tears at the airport.

[hotchilli]

5 minutes ago, MalcolmB said:

Doesn’t sound like a British name.

Britain stopped being British decades ago

[Dave0206]

Most of us on here can afford a uck up like this NOW but the girl was very unlucky. I'm sure at some time in our lives ( I'm talking for me) if I had been refused my flight after thinking I was free to spend my last baht it would have been a worrying time . So I'm not going to get on her case she was unlucky and feel many of us or our children could end up in same position difference is as we get older we start worrying what if so we plan for worst scenarios 

[Peterphuket]

This incident reminds me of my brother who years ago found it necessary to write his daughter's name in his passport, of course he could throw it away, it was not accepted by customs.
Own-handed changes are not allowed, on the other hand, I always have to think of a staple stapled into the passport by an official with, say, an arrival card, teoretically you would not be allowed to take that out either.

 

[frank83628]

sounds like the stereotypical Sri thanu spiritual yoga hippy person to me. 'Volunteering' probably means working illegally. cant believe a 27yr old doesn't even have a £1000 to her name?

 

if anyone wants a laugh and insight into the spiritual wannabe, vegan, easily offended woke generation join the 'koh Phangan conscious community' FB page....

[damo1967]

2 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

I actually don´t get this. She had a ticket home to London, with multiple stops in India and Turkey. But isn´t this just stops and change of planes as usual? In that case she will not enter, nor have any need to enter the countries as she will remain at the airport. Am I missing something, or has it changed. To me the excuse that she can´t board because she will be refused entry in India is just garabge as she will never enter the country.

What if she had 'different' airlines?  She would have to go through customs, exit out, get her new boarding pass with the new airline, and then re-enter through customs.

 

The main point is she should have been aware that any damage to any part of a passport could cause a problem..  ps. I will not contribute to this f00ls stupidity with her fundraising... 

[Thingamabob]

In addition to the damaged passport she had over-stayed her visa, had engaged in a restricted activity, and apparently has no money. Not exactly a well-organised individual.

Edited July 10 by Thingamabob

[damo1967]

15 minutes ago, Ben Zioner said:

Bad habits die hard..

Correct!  If aa family has pitched in with the financial burden.. why the need for the fundraiser for this 1d1ot?

[IamNoone88]

Distraught, stressed and crying. Obviously yoga does little for calming the mind.

[Gandtee]

2 hours ago, steven100 said:

seems her yoga didn't ward off those evil spirits enough ....   she needs more peace and harmony and offer some beer to the gods.  

People are bending over backwards to help her.😉

[spidermike007]

3 hours ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Yep, if she arrives in India and refused entry the airline must return her to Bangkok. 

 

No need for the tears, it's her own fault. 

 

Accidents do happen, and sometimes they are beyond our control, who knows what happened to her passport? Have you never had an incident with a passport, have you never made a mistake in your lifetime? Do you have no compassion for someone who has? 

[oslooskar]

2 hours ago, Sheryl said:

And  India being India,   they might well kick up a fuss about a small tear.

Civil servants instinctively throw their weight around in order to convince the public that they're needed.

[steven100]

she needs her friends from Khosan road to give her some spiritual vibes and some cannabis for her immigration stress relief.

 

I believe it's all in her mind ....

Edited July 10 by steven100

[paahlman]

2 hours ago, Gottfrid said:

I actually don´t get this. She had a ticket home to London, with multiple stops in India and Turkey. But isn´t this just stops and change of planes as usual? In that case she will not enter, nor have any need to enter the countries as she will remain at the airport. Am I missing something, or has it changed. To me the excuse that she can´t board because she will be refused entry in India is just garabge as she will never enter the country.

You are correct. The story is murky. If she has a ticket all the way to London that is a "through ticket" she will be in transit all the way. If she has booked the different flights separately herself she would actually need to enter India as stated. But no info on that.