A yoga teacher is warning holidaymakers to check their passports carefully after being left in tears and stranded in Thailand when she claims she was barred from her flight back to London - because of a 'tiny' tear in her passport.

Rosie Viscomi says she was forced to miss her flight from Bangkok to London via India and Turkey on Thursday 4th July after airline officials raised an issue with her passport.

The 27-year-old had been staying on the Thai island of Koh Pha-ngan since April after completing her yoga qualification in India.

While there, Rosie was learning more about yoga and undertaking voluntary work before deciding to head home back to the UK.

The dance and yoga teacher, who lives in Norfolk, had booked a multi-stop flight from Bangkok to India to Turkey before finally London on Thursday.

However, upon arriving at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Rosie said she was left crying when she was refused entry by IndiGo Airlines staff due to a 'one-centimetre' rip on the photo page in her passport.

As well as this, the teacher said she was told her visa had expired and she was currently in the country illegally - despite claiming she had extended her visa just days before.

Frantic and fearful of arrest, Rosie has been liaising with Thai immigration and the British Embassy to arrange her safe return back home - but the process is costing her hundreds of pounds.

Rosie said: "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'.

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"They told me India won't let me in and I need to book a direct flight from Bangkok to London.

"There's been no issues with travelling until now. I had a tear already on my passport when I came here, I'm not sure if it's got any bigger, it's not that bad.

"It's like a centimetre on the main page where my picture is. I went to America and Jamaica with it and it was fine.

"I missed my flight which cost about £370. I've had to apply for emergency documents and am just praying I can get back now.

"I don't actually have any money left - I did not account for this extra expense. Immigration are saying that they could charge me £320 on top of the flight cost because I've overstayed my visa.

"My 60-day visa had ran out for Thailand so I had to go to the Cambodia border to extend my visa. Everything was fine, then at the airport they told me that I didn't get the right stamps and I was here illegally."

Rosie has since forked out hundreds of pounds to pay for a new flight and acquire new emergency travel documents to travel back home.

She has since booked a new flight from Bangkok to London and is hoping to return to England by Tuesday July 9th.

"It's very scary - I didn't know what to do"

Rosie said: "It's very scary - I didn't know what to do. I didn't know if they were going to arrest me because I didn't have the correct stamp.

Rosie's sister has launched a fundraising page to help pay for the extra travel costs. 

"There's so many complications, I was at immigration just crying and everyone kept saying there's nothing they can do.

"I thought I had all the right visa documents - I didn't realise I had the wrong stamp, they wouldn't let me fly anyway because of the tear on the passport.

"I just want to go home - it seems like more and more problems keep arising. It's really stressful. I never thought a tear would be such a problem for me. This is all just added extra and I'm not working right now."

An IndiGo Airlines spokesperson said: "On July 4, 2024, a foreign national, flying on IndiGo flight 6E1054 from Bangkok to Delhi was unable to board, as their passport was found to be damaged.

"IndiGo followed the guidelines by the regulatory authorities and offered requisite assistance to the customer. Customers are advised to familiarise themselves with such guidelines, which may differ from country to country."