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The end of island happiness: Some travelers would have to leave Bali last because they violated Corona regulations
Photo:
Fabio Formaggio / EyeEm / Getty Images
Three days before she is put on a deportation plane from Indonesia back to Los Angeles, the American Kristen Gray tweeted full of euphoria:
"I moved to
Bali
with my girlfriend a year
ago."
"Our lifestyle has increased while the cost of living is much lower."
“I paid $ 1,300 for my little LA apartment. I have a wooden house here for $ 400. "
"Being a digital nomad means everything to me."
Gray reports on Twitter about her life on the Indonesian island of Bali, the luxury, the yoga retreats;
and that the move there was a "game changer".
At the very end, Gray invites her followers to travel to Bali despite the pandemic.
And to buy her book,
"
Our Bali is Your Bali
"
.
Then, on January 19th, the dream of living in paradise ends.
The Indonesian police arrest Kristen Gray and her partner.
Last Thursday, the couple had to leave the country by plane to Los Angeles.
"The deportation went smoothly," said the head of the Balinese immigration authorities afterwards.
Deported from paradise.
Authorities accuse the women of violating immigration laws, exceeded their visas and failed to pay taxes in Indonesia.
And they had spread information "that could unsettle the public".
Paradise yes - but for whom?
Bali, 4.4 million inhabitants, mostly Hindu, is Indonesia's tourism engine.
Six million travelers from abroad came in 2019. In the pandemic, nobody is currently allowed to enter the country to go on vacation.
Although the number of infections is low on the island, it is very high in the rest of the country.
Half of the local people are directly dependent on tourism.
They fear for their economic survival, are now growing vegetables and catching fish in order to earn anything at all.
According to the Bali Tourism Agency, the island lost the equivalent of 2.7 billion euros in revenue between March and July 2020 alone.
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"I'm not guilty": The American Kristen Gray at the immigration office in Bali
Photo:
ANTARA PHOTO / via REUTERS
You'd think that at a time like this, tweets from foreign influencers would be good advertising.
But Kristen Gray's behavior not only upset the authorities, but above all many Balinese people.
Perhaps right now, with the corona crisis, when the inequality between the islanders and the boastful "digital nomads" is becoming more evident than ever, the patience of the local population is coming to an end.
Locals accuse Gray of completely misunderstanding the local reality and deliberately ignoring it.
For years, Bali has been attracting western expats, surfers and emigrants.
This stylized Bali as an island of the blissful.
The paradise they show on social media, many now say, has nothing to do with the reality of the local population.
The freedom, the happiness, the low-budget life of those who post their everyday life in Bali on Instagram will be carried out on the backs of the locals.
A paradise, yes - but for whom?
So that life is easy, carefree and beautifully exotic for some, others have to work under the toughest conditions.
Prices and rents on the island are rising, also for the local population.
Hotels are being built where the local villages used to stand.
"Why do Americans think their peace of mind is worth gentrifying an entire island and pushing local people into low-paying jobs?" Wrote one on Twitter.
"This place is not queer-friendly"
How little Kristen Gray actually dealt with the political and social circumstances on site is revealed in this passage in her Twitter thread: Bali, writes Gray, is a place that welcomes blacks and queer people.
Many Indonesians discussed the position on social media.
Because part of the reality is that same-sex marriage is forbidden in conservative Indonesia, and the LGBTQI community repeatedly reports of severe discrimination.
A Twitter user responded to Kristen Gray in a video saying:
»You think Bali is queer-friendly?
That may apply to you.
Because, firstly, you are a foreigner, and secondly, money is your leverage.
Indonesian society is financially dependent on keeping you happy. "
The user explains how the LGBTQI community in Indonesia is being marginalized.
She talks about the Indonesian government's attempt to legislate so-called conversion therapy to "cure" LGBTQI people.
“So while you are relying on your privileges, you should know that we in Indonesia are exposed to striking homophobia every day.
This place is not queer-friendly. "
Corona party with 50 guests
Kristen Grays lawyer said, according to
"
New York Times
"
that women are to help "kind people" who like "poor children and buy them food."
The deportation is not justified.
Gray herself had come up with an explanation for her deportation that had a strange logic in it - considering that she had recently praised Bali as a "queer-friendly" travel destination.
She said to reporters outside the prison when she was arrested last week, “I am not guilty.
I made a statement about LGBT and now I'm being deported because of LGBT. "
Gray's Twitter account is no longer publicly available, and her e-book is currently not available.
This week Indonesia pushed another influencer off Bali.
The Russian Sergej Kosenko, 4.9 million Instagram followers, hosted a party with 50 guests and violated the Corona requirements.
The locals mainly complained about a post in which Kosenko, together with a woman, races over the pier into the sea on a moped.
“I love Bali.
I'm sorry and I apologize, ”he said afterwards.
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