COSMETIC QUEEN DETAINED
A GOLD Coast cosmetic tour boss is desperately trying to flee Thailand after being detained for more than a week.
Claire Johnson sent frantic text messages to a friend on Monday, but hasn’t been heard from since. The friend believes Ms Johnson, the managing director at Cosmetic Holidays International, may have been detained because of visa issues.
A GOLD Coast cosmetic tour queen is desperately trying to flee Thailand after being detained for more than a week.
Claire Johnson sent frantic text messages to a friend on Monday, but hasn’t been heard from since.
Her friend Juliet Potter believes Ms Johnson, the managing director at Cosmetic Holidays International, may have been detained because of visa issues.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing assistance to “an Australian woman detained in Thailand”.
Ms Johnson, 46, who also describes herself as a medical tourism promoter, photographer and freelance journalist, has been detained since January 8 after apparently overstaying her visa.
According to Ms Potter, Ms Johnson – a mother of two – was due back in Sydney on January 8 but was detained and has been in a detention centre in Bangkok ever since.
Ms Potter believes Ms Johnson might have “outstayed her visa by accident”.
Ms Johnson’s social media page has not been updated since January 8. It normally has regular posts daily.
Ms Johnson’s latest post reads: “All grand adventures end with a big bang!”, adding a gun emoticon and a quote saying: “i feel like im in season 5 of my life and the writers are just making ridiculous sh** happen to keep it interesting.”
She answered concerned friends with: “Some pretty serious stuff went down. I’m flying in Saturday you next week.”
An acquaintance of Ms Johnson’s told the Bulletin it was “strange” she hadn’t posted to her social media account for a few days.
“I hope she’s OK and I wish her well, she seems to run into bad luck a bit,” she said.
Ms Potter said: “Claire went overseas to travel and work for a year, and was on her way back through Thailand to come home to Sydney.
“After her divorce, she basically sold everything and went overseas by herself, and it was time for her to come home back to Sydney. She was going to stay in a flat I have when she got home. I was excited to have my friend back … but looks like that’s not happening any time soon.”
Ms Potter, who works at a Sydney PR firm, said Ms Johnson was asked to pay a fine by police and have a current plane ticket booked in order to leave the country. It is understood another friend of Ms Johnson’s paid the 3000 Baht fine ($130) and put her on a Garuda flight on January 12 to return to Sydney.
But Ms Johnson claims she was unable to leave the detention centre on the weekend.
“Help me,” Ms Johnson’s text to Ms Potter read. “Call yhe (sic) media.
“Help. Goita (sic) go. Theu (sic) r taking my phone cant talk. So scared.”
Ms Potter, who has transferred $900 to Ms Johnson since last week, believes her friend could be in “great trouble” in the detention centre.
“I feel like I should’ve done something sooner,” she said. (12) talk to