‘Help me – I’m so scared’: Australian tourist locked up in a Thailand detention centre frantically messages her friend asking for help – but hasn’t been heard from since
- Australian tourist sent frantic text messages from a Thailand detention centre
- Claire Johnson due back in Sydney January 8, but contacted friend on Monday
- Said she wouldn’t be boarding plane home because ‘serious stuff went down’
- Soon after, texted Juliet Potter, saying she was ‘so scared… get media involved’
There are grave fears for an Australian tourist who sent frantic text messages from a Thailand detention centre after ‘some pretty serious stuff went down’.
Claire Johnson, 46, was due back in Sydney on January 8, but a week later contacted a friend to tell her she was ‘so scared’ and locked up in immigration detention.
Ms Johnson’s friends first raised concerns when, on the day she was due to fly home, she posted on Facebook: ‘All grand adventures end with a big bang’.
When one asked what was wrong, Ms Johnson said she would not be boarding her plane home because ‘serious stuff went down’.
There are grave fears for Australian tourist Claire Johnson (pictured), who sent frantic text messages from a Thailand detention centre after ‘some pretty serious stuff went down’
‘They are taking my phone… Have to go,’ Ms Johnson wrote to friend, Juliet Potter
Soon after, in a string of panic-stricken text messages to friend Juliet Potter, Ms Johnson begged for help and said she was ‘so scared… get media involved.’
‘They are taking my phone… Have to go,’ Ms Johnson wrote to Ms Potter on Monday night.
Ms Potter told Daily Mail Australia her friend was terrified and had no idea why she had been detained.
‘She needs help… She apparently had to pay somebody,’ Ms Potter said.
‘She called me and asked me to wire her some money. She said something about wanting to buy a blanket in the jail – you must have to buy a pillow and a blanket.’
In a string of panic-stiken text messages to friend Juliet Potter (pictured), Ms Johnson begged for help and said she was ‘so scared… get media involved’
Ms Johnson’s friends first raised concerns when, on the day she was due to fly home, she posted on Facebook: ‘All grand adventures end with a big bang’
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was providing consular assistance to an Australian woman detained in Thailand.
‘For privacy reasons we are unable to provide further details,’ the department told Daily Mail Australia in a statement.
Ms Potter claimed the department wasn’t doing enough to help her friend, who she hasn’t heard from since the text message exchange.
‘I don’t think they are [providing assistance]. Otherwise she would never had reached out to me – and she’s still over there, she’s not home,’ she said.
Ms Potter said she had been told by a friend Ms Johnson may have accidentally overstayed her Thai visa by one day.
Ms Potter said she had been told by a friend Ms Johnson (pictured) may have accidentally overstayed her Thai visa by one day