Couples May Choose Thailand Over Bali After New Premarital Sex Law

Indonesia’s decision to outlaw cohabitation and sex outside of marriage may harm Bali’s tourism industry, according to travellers and businesses, just as the island destination recovers from the pandemic.

In what critics have called a step backwards for the world’s third-largest democracy, Indonesia introduced a slew of new laws this week, including bans on insulting state institutions and spreading views contrary to the country’s secular ideology, as well as morality clauses.

Foreigners may be discouraged from visiting Bali in Indonesia and go to Thailand instead, according to travellers and businesses.

“If I couldn’t stay in a hotel with my girlfriend, I’d think twice,” said Wu Bingnan, a 21-year-old Chinese tourist visiting Bali, well just go to Thailand instead.

Although changes to the criminal code will not take effect for another 3 years, Maulana Yusran, deputy chief of Indonesia’s tourism industry board, has stated that the new rules are “totally counter-productive” to tourism.

Others attempted to allay fears of a morality-related crackdown in Indonesia, a nation of 17,000 islands populated primarily by moderate Muslims.

“The regulation simply clarifies what we have now, that only certain people have the right to lodge a complaint. (As hotel operators), we are not concerned and do not believe it will have an impact on our business,” said Arie Ermawati, manager of Bali’s Oberoi Hotel.

Adultery is currently prohibited in Indonesia, but not premarital sex. According to the new criminal code, such activity can only be reported by a few people, such as a spouse, parent, or child.

Foreign arrivals in Bali are expected to reach pre-pandemic levels of six million by 2025, according to the tourism association.

Abortion remains illegal in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country, according to the new law, but exceptions will be made for women with life-threatening medical conditions and in rape cases where the fetus is less than 12 weeks old.

In addition, “insulting” a sitting president or vice president, state institutions, or national ideology is prohibited under the new code. The act, which is complaint-based and must be initiated by officeholders themselves, could result in up to three years in prison, according to the Associated Press.

Aside from the other changes, the criminalization of sex outside of marriage has received the most attention, with many critics slamming the law.

Bali’s tourism and the new criminal code

According to a BBC report, Australia is the most concerned about Indonesia’s new criminal code, which has been dubbed the “Bali bonk ban” by some newspapers.

Tourism from Australia contributes significantly to the Indonesian economy. Thousands of Australians visit Indonesia’s tropical island of Bali each month, according to the BBC.

Weddings are also common in Bali, and every year, Australian students visit the island to celebrate their graduation. This new premarital sex law is likely to have a big impact on tourism in Indonesia, many people will choose Thailand where laws are very liberal.

According to the Indonesia Institute, a non-governmental organization based in Perth, a record 1.23 million Australian tourists visited Bali in 2019.

According to Statistica, only 51 foreign tourists visited the island in 2021, due to the covid-19 pandemic.

Some argue that the ban on sex outside of marriage would not affect tourists because a police investigation requires a complaint to be lodged by close family members, according to the BBC.

According to the Australian newspaper Sydney Morning Herald , a foreigner who had sexual relations with a married or unmarried local may find themselves in the cross hairs of the revised code if a complaint is filed by a close relative of that local.

Reservations about the new legislation

Mr. Basari, a member of the parliamentary commission in charge of legal affairs, said that the Indonesian tourist industry and Australians need not be concerned.

“Cohabitation is made a crime because it is viewed as a crime against the marriage institution or a crime against the family institution,” he explained. “As a result, only interested parties could file a complaint,” Mr. Basari explained.

Many critics have expressed reservations about the new legislation.

Mr.  Zainal Arifin, the head of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation’s advocacy team, the revised code has “the potential to criminalize [Indonesian] people and foreign tourists.”

The new code, according to Maulana Yusran, deputy chief of the tourism industry board in Indonesia, is “totally counter-productive” at a time when the economy and tourism industry are just beginning to recover from the pandemic.

“We deeply regret that the government has closed its eyes. “We’ve already expressed our concern to the tourism ministry about how harmful this law is,” he was quoted as saying by Sky News.

Mr. Putu Winastra, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Tour and Travel Agencies (ASITA) in Bali, the laws will “make foreigners think twice” about visiting the Southeast Asian country.

“Should we inquire whether (overseas unmarried couples) are married or not?” Do tourist couples have to show proof of marriage? ” he inquired.

Some have also expressed concern that police investigating claims of sex outside marriage only if family members file complaints could lead to “selective law enforcement.”

“It means that it will only be implemented against specific targets,” Andreas Harsono, senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, told the BBC.

“It could be hotels, it could be foreign tourists… that will allow certain police officers to extort bribes or certain politicians to use, say, the blasphemy law, to jail their opponents,” he added, according to the BBC.

Melissa Giroux, a Canadian travel blogger who lived in Bali for 18 months in 2017, told BBC she was “shocked” that the revised code was actually passed after years of debate and protests.

“Many tourists will prefer to go elsewhere rather than risk being arrested once the law is enforced,” Ms. Giroux told the BBC.

“And I’m not even thinking about the singles who come to Bali to party or the couples who fall in love while travelling,” the blogger continued.