We’ve already written quite extensively about Indonesia’s revised criminal code (RKUHP) and how it would be highly unlikely for tourists to fall afoul of the so-called ban on extramarital sex and cohabitation.
But perhaps you need to hear it from the horse’s mouth if you’re seeking a guarantee that you can get it on with anyone who is not your spouse in Bali (with consent, of course).
Bali Tourism Agency Head Tjokorda Bagus Pemayun yesterday stressed that tourists need not worry about the new laws on the Island of Gods.
“Do not be concerned because based on our discussion with numerous hotel and tourism associations, it’s clear that hotels won’t ask about marital status [of guests],” Tjokorda said.
“When someone goes to a hotel, they go to relax. They will be treated like they are now.”
Putu Winastra, who heads the Bali chapter of the Association of Indonesian Travel and Tour Agents, also said hotels would “never ask for marriage certificates.”
Adultery and extramarital sex is a crime punishable by up to one year in prison under the new criminal code and it does indeed apply to foreigners as well. But the law stipulates that only immediate family members (spouse, parents, or children) who may be negatively impacted by adultery or sex outside marriage, can report adulterers for the crime.
So the only scenario in which two unmarried tourists could fall afoul of the law is if they brought their families along with them and one of their family members decided to report them to the Indonesian police.
Another slightly more realistic but still improbable scenario would be a foreign tourist hooking up with an Indonesian and their direct family reporting them.
The new criminal code also makes cohabitation a crime punishable by up to six months in prison. But again, only direct family members, who may be negatively impacted by one’s cohabitation, can report the offender for this crime.
