Asia’s naked tourist photo trend could be here to stay
Does Asia have a nude tourist problem?
By Asian Correspondent Staff Jun 12, 2015Images of a group of 10 tourists who stripped naked on the peak of Malaysia’s Mount Kinabalu have been making headlines this week, after locals and Malaysian officials suggested that their actions contributed to the June 5 earthquake that claimed 18 lives.
While the connection between their actions and the quake is tenuous at best, they did manage to offend a lot of people even before the tragic temblor. Four of the 10 have been detained in Malaysia and are due to appear in court on Sunday.
Their antics, which could well have gone under the international radar had the quake not happened, look to be the latest incident in what appears to be a growing trend in Asia. More and more tourists are getting into trouble with authorities for picturing themselves in the buff at attractions around Asia, often making matters worse by sharing them on social media.
The group of 10 foreigners posed naked on Mount Kilabalu on May 30. Image via Emil Kaminski’s Facebook page.
There have been a number of incidents already this year.
Three Frenchmen were deported from Cambodia in late January after they were caught taking nude photographs of each other at the famed Angkor Wat temple complex.
The trio – aged in their late teens and early 20s – received six-month suspended sentences, were fined about US$250 each and were immediately deported from the country after they were convicted of producing pornography and for “exposure of sexual organs”. They can not return to Cambodia for four years.
Canadian sisters Lindsey and Leslie Adams apparently didn’t get the memo. About one week after the Frenchmen were kicked out of the country, the 20-something sisters suffered the same fate after they were caught taking images of their butts at the ancient temple complex.
Lindsey (left) and Leslie Adams in court before being deported from Cambodia.
“They lowered their pants to their knees and took pictures of their buttocks,” said Keat Bunthan, a senior heritage police official in northwestern Siem Reap province.
In May a Hong Kong model caused a bit of a stir in northern Thailand after images and videos of her performing a naked bungee jump were circulated on social media.
A Hong Kong model made headlines in Thailand last month after her naked bungee jump in Chiang Mai. Image from vkizz.com.
While earlier this month photographer ‘Wanimal’ incurred the wrath of Chinese authorities after taking images of a model in various states of undress at Beijing’s ancient Forbidden City and posting them to his website – NSFW.
As happens with images like these, they went viral and made a lot of people angry. ‘Wanimal’ was accused of profaning cultural sites, but said he was just doing his job. “I was only doing my work and did not affect anyone,” he said.
Image from Wanimal’s’ website.
mage via Weibo.
Judging by the above examples the naked tourist photo trend could be here to stay. So far, authorities have been pretty lenient with clothes-shy tourists, simply packing them off home at the worst. However, that could change amid growing annoyance with some tourists’ blatant disregard for local cultural sensitivities. The outcome of Sunday’s proceedings in Malaysia could tell a lot.
