Bali Just Made ‘naughty’ Tourist Behavior Like Cursing Illegal

An incredibly popular tropical island known for Instagram influencers, digital nomads, and international yoga and wellness programs just introduced new laws to cut down on what it considers bad tourist behavior. And the new rules are about as strict as they come.

On March 24, 2025, the governor of Bali, in Indonesia, issued a new set of rules outlining seven types of acts now prohibited by visitors to the island. It’s an update of a set of behaviors outlined in 2023, but includes more details and information on enforcement, as well as a new focus on ensuring visitors pay a mandatory tourist tax. The list of banned behaviors for tourists includes:

• Entering sacred temple areas unless worshipping and wearing traditional Balinese attire (menstruating women are prohibited)
• Climbing sacred trees or monuments
• Littering
• Using single-use plastics
• Displaying any aggressive or disrespectful behavior, including swearing or sharing hate speech on social media
• Working without proper permits
• Participating in illegal activities, such as buying and selling drugs. (Also illegal for residents, of course.)

The law also includes a robust enforcement system, with Governor Wayan Koster ensuring the public that the rules will be “strictly enforced” with the use of a new police team. There’s even an official WhatsApp hotline where the public can report instances of tourists breaking the rules. The consequences for tourists who break Bali’s new rules can vary depending on the severity of the violation. Punishment could range from no more than a strict warning from police and order to correct the behavior to expulsion from tourist sites, monetary fines, possible jail time, or full deportation. Koster told Balinese media “foreign tourists who are naughty will be immediately dealt with firmly.”

The new law is also focused on ensuring more of Bali’s tourists pay the mandatory visitor tax. Photo: AsiaTravel/Shutterstock

The new law also reinforces an existing regulation that visitors pay a tourist tax. It’s a fairly reasonable rate of 150,000 Indonesian rupiah (around $9), but is one many tourists fail to pay. The Civil Service Police Unit (Satpol PP) will actively run checkpoints at popular tourist sites, says Koster, to ensure higher rates of tax compliance. The fee is used for projects on the island related to cultural preservation, environmental protection, and infrastructure improvements. Though it was introduced in February of 2024, data from the first year showed that only about one-third of visitors actually paid the tourist tax.

While the new law does add further specifications to the rules around work permits, it’s not expected to impact the island’s many digital nomads. Towns like Canggu and Ubud are extremely popular with the remote work set, many of whom are drawn to extended stay remote working accommodations in the laid-back towns. The process for getting a “Remote Worker Visa, officially known as an E33G visa, is unchanged, allowing digital nomads to stay for up to one year with the option to renew for up to five years.