September 2, 2024, 4:00 pm | Read time: 2 minutes
A tourist in Myanmar was expelled from the country for publicly displaying a Buddha tattoo. The reason was that it was a religious symbol, and the locals felt their faith was being attacked. But this was not the first time that a Western tourist has fallen foul of the law in South East Asia.
A tourist in Myanmar has been expelled from the country because of a Buddha tattoo. Residents of the city of Mandalay in northern Myanmar informed the police after discovering the tattoo on the left leg of the man from Italy.
The 34-year-old was then forced to leave Myanmar, according to the authorities. In the country, it is illegal to depict Buddha for non-religious reasons. This is considered an insult to religion and sometimes severely punished. In 2015, a bar owner was penalized in Myanmar for using a photo of Buddha wearing headphones for advertising. The man from New Zealand received a sentence of ten months of hard labor in prison.
Tourists misbehave
Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries have seen repeated incidents involving tourists who misbehave in public or simply do not follow the local rules.
In July, an American woman and an Irishman who had sex on a side street on the Thai island of Phi Phi made headlines. Locals filmed them, and a manhunt ensued. This ended with a comparatively small fine of around 50 euros (approximately 56 USD). The tourists also had to make a public apology.
Nudist tourists are said to have caused an earthquake
A case in Malaysia also caused a stir: in May 2015, several tourists posed naked on the sacred Mount Kinabalu. For many locals, this was not only a disrespectful act, they also accused the tourists of triggering an earthquake a few days later with their actions. Although they were acquitted of the latter, they were fined and sentenced to three days in prison.
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Naked motorcyclists in Cambodia
In Cambodia, three European tourists angered locals and authorities in January 2015 when they rode naked on motorcycles and took photos of themselves. The accusation at the time was “practising pornography”. The tourists were detained for one day until their departure and are now no longer allowed to enter the country.