Bali Is Everything Wrong With Society

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:00]Bali used to be a paradise, a serene island with a friendly and welcoming culture, jaw-dropping landscapes, and exotic wildlife. Unfortunately, today this Indonesian dreamland has become home to a completely different kind of animal. On the island of Bali, >> [music] >> the world's largest digital nomad hub.

[00:00:19]Okay, guys, I just found another group of digital nomads here. Another digital nomad, it's just so easy to find them here. Hey, guys, another digital nomad here. That's right, annoying digital nomads. They're everywhere in Bali, and if you ask them about their jobs, like this YouTuber Travel with Rafa did, then you'll probably get some answers like this. I basically help guys level up on dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge. Focused at optimizing businesses using AI and systems. I'm basically an entrepreneur and run a couple of companies. Dropped out from uni two months ago. One of them is focused at getting college students to do their exams faster using like new teaching technologies.

[00:00:55]>> Oh, nice. [clears throat] Comments were quick to point out the obvious contradiction, with one user saying the guy who dropped out of uni wants to help college students do their exam. But even he sounds more legit than the next two sunbathers. So, Cody and I are actually building a self-development course.

[00:01:10]Nice.

[00:01:10]>> And we've been doing that for two months, and we'll always be doing calls and lectures and getting mentors in, collaborations. That's going to be valuable. So, despite only starting this mentorship course business two months ago, they're already giving other people advice on how to start their own business and get their own lives together. Just like this other commenter says, "Yeah, we wanted to do something unique, so we decided to be Aussies in Bali selling BS courses and making YouTube videos." But these people are now just a common regular sight. The amount of tourists that come to the island every year now outnumbers its local population by nearly 3 million.

[00:01:45]But it wasn't always like this. For most of its history, Bali was a rarity, overlooked and unvisited by most outsiders. Despite most of Southeast Asia falling to colonialism centuries before, it wasn't until the late 1800s that the Dutch arrived and took control.

[00:02:00]Before then, only private traders really came to the island to make deals with the local royal houses. Most of its people worked the land growing rice or catching fish. At the turn of the millennium, Bali began to gain international attention and at first, this tourism was a boon to the island.

[00:02:15]It gave its people new wealth and prosperity while increasing the island's power within Indonesia itself. The number of annual visitors soon grew to 500,000, then to a million, then quickly to over 7 million today. This massive increase is relatively recent and a large part of it can be blamed on social media and Instagram. As the island's natural beauty became popular on the site, influencers from around the world saw that they could use this to pretty up their own profiles. Anyone looks good as a silhouette with Bali in the background. The YouTuber Charlie Chang spoke to a lot of digital nomads and influencers in a series of interviews.

[00:02:48]And one that stood out was this man who claims to be a property developer and an entrepreneur. So, what's your name, age, and where are you from? My name is Sumner, 30 years old, and I'm from Big Sur, California.

[00:02:58]>> So, what do you do for work?

[00:02:59]>> Couple different things. All of it's in like the real estate development niche.

[00:03:02]Four years ago, I launched a coaching program teaching other people how to do it. And then two years ago, I built a software that pretty much runs the business for you.

[00:03:08]>> Like, how much money do you make living here in Bali? Uh this year so far, anywhere between like 400 and 500k.

[00:03:13]Okay. Impressive if he's telling the truth. But a lot of people were skeptical saying things like, "400k a month and living in Bali? Totally believable. These coaches are something else." Another says, "When you are traveling, you will meet a lot of liars." And one quite simply says even the cameraman is puking from listening to their And you can't blame them as it's really easy to be suspicious. What can you buy with that money here? Yeah, I'm not really a big spender to be honest. But yeah, I probably spend 10 to 15 grand a month.

[00:03:42]>> None of this adds up. Even somewhere like New York or London, that's a ton of money to spend. In Bali, where things can be half the price, it's even crazier. Although this guy might be out of touch enough to actually be but it's impossible to tell whether this actually comes from land deals, the incredibly expensive course he's always selling online, or even just some inheritance. Some of the guys are even more dubious. Maybe they're early on in their Bali bro life cycle, like these two guys.

[00:04:05]>> What type of business do you guys have?

[00:04:07]>> We have a supplement brand. We started working together work together for 2 years without never seeing each other.

[00:04:12]We've met just like few months ago here in Bali for the first time and now we're working and scaling launching new products.

[00:04:17]>> Yeah, we're on track to do seven figures a month. Over advice is constantly keep working hard. Like it doesn't happen overnight. It took me years to start building especially to big numbers, multiple six figures, seven figures a month.

[00:04:27]>> Millions a month is what he's saying at 21 years old. He hasn't had any years to work hard to begin with, but he somehow managed this after starting from pretty much nothing. But before we move on, it's worth taking a look at the people this guy surrounds himself with. So what types of people live in Bali?

[00:04:43]>> Oh man, you get everything. You got the party crowd, you got the fitness [music] crowd like at Ron gym here. You've got that Dubai bro entrepreneur crowd.

[00:04:51]You've got the crypto bro crowd. You got the Ubud spiritual crowd. You got it all. It's a sad statement of how things are going in Bali and who has taken up residence there. [music] The people that Bali has changed itself to support. But it wasn't always like this. This archival footage from the 70s shows the true beauty of what it used to be like.

[00:05:08]>> They're coming here now with their dope, with their dirty jeans, with their pecs.

[00:05:12]Have you ever thought that perhaps by coming here you're [music] wrecking the culture?

[00:05:15]>> Um Just by coming here you are you are sort of helping [music] to destroy their way of life I think. Mhm. But um the only thing you can do is is is try and live as simply as you can and and live as as simply as the people here.

[00:05:30]>> You'll find a lot of the people that are coming to Bali now. They'll talk to you about spiritualism and the fact that if you go up to the mountains and meditate you don't need to take [music] dope and all this kind of thing. Some of it seems to me very unspontaneous. Kuta Beach used to be an unfashionable area, but since the [music] tourist invasion shops and restaurants have sprung up all along the dirt roads. Already though, you can see the beginning of what we've got today. The very start of the replacement. 50 years later and it's completely unrecognizable. As the Instagrammable hotspots filled up with people, the influencer culture propagated. Now, places that were once hidden and pristine have turned into this.

[00:06:10]>> [laughter] >> As you can see, Bali as an island is currently choking on influencers and [music] literally dying because of this.

[00:06:20]The luxurious villas and other tourist infrastructures replacing the local architecture at a breakneck [music] pace. Around 1,000 hectares a year.

[00:06:28]Western businesses and Western prices are now displacing its native people.

[00:06:32]Because of all these people and digital nomads, Bali is literally overflowing with garbage now. The island's biggest landfill is now full, so residents have resorted to burning the trash just to get rid of it. Covering this pristine island with a layer of thick polluted smoke. Meanwhile, influencers are trying to turn the island into their own party venue. Smuggling drugs in and filming sex tapes on its sacred mountains.

[00:06:55]Veronica [snorts] Troshina, a Russian influencer and adult content creator, got over a million views by desecrating Mount Batur, a grand volcano considered holy by Bali's native population. And unfortunately, this is just one example of a huge growing problem. That Bali is everything wrong with Instagram modern culture. Where you party and become a seller while ignoring laws and ancient customs. While Veronica escaped back to Russia, she probably won't ever face any consequences for her actions.

[00:07:23]Yet, not all were so lucky.

[00:07:31]Despite claiming it was Panadol, the man was arrested for cocaine possession shortly after. Indonesian authorities are notoriously tough on drug crimes.

[00:07:39]But apparently, the big red warning sign of the death penalty for drug smugglers wasn't enough to deter this [music] guy.

[00:07:45]But, this all happens as a product of the culture of partying that's now been imported onto the island, especially in Canggu, where lots of influencers and digital nomads gather together. We've got party, party, party, party. I have seen a lot of titties here. They just flash them. It's like That's really normal for them. I already have a boyfriend. Oh. Make me naked. So, a guy came and This is just one part of the influencer industry that's taking over this [music] island. People whose families worked the land or fished the seas for generations have seen their livelihoods and their place in the world vanish in the space of just a few short years. Meanwhile, cartels and international gangs [music] have been quick to capitalize on a booming tourism industry on the island. Because of the strict laws and relative scarcity, they can charge high prices and make [music] an absolute fortune, corrupting the island even further. It's why local newspapers are now talking about a growing organized crime presence on the island, particularly from Ukrainian and Russian gangs fighting to monopolize the exploding drug trade. Just recently, this drug lab was busted by Bali police with two Russian men and one Ukrainian arrested in connection to it. And with the influx of gangs now trying to serve the influencers and digital nomads, there comes infighting, too, just like we saw with this incident.

[00:09:01]IN DECEMBER OF 2024, A Ukrainian man was kidnapped by masked Russian gangsters, and he was forced to transfer almost $200,000 of crypto to their wallets.

[00:09:11]Dashcam footage of the incident was later released online, going viral as a clear example of the growing criminal underworld in Bali. And bear in mind, it's not really locals doing this. The victim eventually escaped the ordeal relatively unharmed, but not everyone's so lucky. Another Ukrainian man was kidnapped in 2026, just 1 day after posting a Valentine's Day photo online with his influencer girlfriend. Some believe he was found through the photo's location data. Soon, he was bundled into a rental car with no sign of him found for days until a harrowing video was posted online. The now deleted clip shows an injured and distressed man claiming to be the victim and asking his parents for a 10 million-dollar ransom as he gestured to horrific injuries. He was then later found deceased. All suspects in this case, according to Bali's police force, were also foreign nationals. There were rumors that the victim was the son of an infamous Ukrainian mob boss and it was why he was targeted. Although that's not really confirmed. Regardless, these tragedies are clearly spilling over from other criminal underworlds, all to serve one population that wasn't here 10 years ago. As this unfortunately is almost inevitable economically when you consider the party culture that's fueling their arrival. But it's not just criminal gangs. One of the most visually criminal crimes happening in Bali is construction. Companies that are often foreign-owned are building like crazy, ignoring all the local rules, and greasing pockets to get the best spots next to Bali's picturesque rice paddies and flowing waterfalls. Of course, as more villas go up, they eventually [music] replace the natural beauty. The concrete sprawl gets larger and new villas are needed in new picturesque locations without burning trash. Often foreign construction companies have been rushing to seize land which skyrockets in value just a year or two later.

[00:10:51][music] Lots of people responsible for this are the ones partying in the coastal towns. They build illegally, which the government turned a blind eye to for years because [music] of its booming tourism economy. Quotes, "The developments got out of control and people [music] got greedy," said one local. "We tried to stop it, but the government didn't listen to us and now it's too late. Now though, with lots of hastily constructed villas and buildings falling apart just years later, the government has backpedaled, ordering the demolition of lots of these new [music] buildings." While some see it as a move in the right direction, it does still threaten to further damage the environment, [music] waste more money, and push Bali further into a crisis, which mirrors a much larger projects in Bali, [music] the infamous Chinese glass elevator, built into the cliff face overlooking the beach. Kelly King Beach for years was a small island gem accessible via a 40-minute boat ride from Sanur, a small town on the southeast coast of the island. As the Instagram crowd came to Bali, it became one of the most photographed spots in the entire region and for good reason.

[00:11:48]Whatever filter you may or may not use, it's absolutely stunning, or at least it was. Most visitors never made it down to the beach. The steep hike down the traditional coastal path, which the locals have been using for generations, turned away most travelers. There are plenty of other beaches for people [music] to visit, and you didn't need to take the path to get the beautiful view, but this didn't really matter. In response to this non-problem, a Chinese developer called China Kashi Group was hired to build a massive elevator. At nearly 200 m tall, the white steel and glass structure was going to be slightly taller than the Washington Monument. Was going to be as the key phrase. Ever since construction began in 2023, locals protested this every step of the way.

[00:12:31]Construction got about 70% of the way before the regional governor suspended construction, then deciding to schedule this for demolition, citing a lack of proper permits for construction. So, now they're tearing it all down again. Over 15 million dollars were wasted, and more could still be needed to repair any damage to the environment, especially as the original investors behind the project are still battling it out in the courts to stop the ongoing demolition.

[00:12:55]The project is now temporarily a work of art in a strange, ugly way. A testament modern influence on Bali and the ongoing conflict between different interest groups over its future. It may well end up just being little more than a symbolic victory for the environmentalists and the people looking to preserve the natural beauty of this island. But, for every viral glass elevator that gets torn down, there are thousands of small ugly villas which slip through the cracks. They go unnoticed by the wider public, but spoil the island in their own little way. Now, of course, there are also benefits to tourism. Whatever the character of Bali's new arrivals, their money still spends and it accounted for over 60% of the island's GDP in 2019. This shift in the economy has completely changed life for most of Bali's native residents. The sons and daughters of fishermen and farmers have been forced to break century-long traditions and family trades. Some of them were happy to switch to construction or to service jobs for the tourism industry. They do pay better, although Bali's minimum wage is still incredibly low. So, this ends up just clearly pushing people off the island entirely. Like this person claims, "It's dystopian." Meanwhile, the video this person commented on is a travel vlog talking about how cheap the Western-style cafes are. This choice to find work elsewhere will soon become a forced decision for more people. It's highly unlikely that most families will be able to stay afloat if the digital nomad communities in the tourism areas continue to expand. In Canggu, land prices rose by around 400 to 600% in 15 years. Amazing for foreign owners of the land, but terrible for any local person renting it. It's really insane. You have people like this guy believing they've escaped the corporate prison and found their unique natural life. This is how they were meant to be living. Meanwhile, they're still existing in a bubble designed to cater to them. It's all a fake facade hiding how deep the problems really go beneath the surface.

[00:14:40]Influencers and digital nomads can sit down in air-conditioned cafes, eat their avocado toast, spend their days lounging by the pool, and then claim they're finding their spiritual awakening. This travel vlog unknowingly summed it all up. This tourist trap restaurant was sure to put their name on the egg in their ramen bowl to get free Instagram advertising when people post their lunches online. But, according to the channel, the ramen looks great, but the taste is just okay. Like all of these tourist areas here, it's all style with no substance, just like Dubai. Now, obviously, there's nothing wrong with going on holiday. There are still many amazing places to go in Bali and so many awe-inspiring things to see. Off the beaten track, you'll find beauty everywhere. But, as more and more people come to this small island all trying to do the exact same thing as their favorite Instagram influencers, it gets really harder and harder to see how this can sustain itself. Interestingly enough, Bali is the only majority Hindu part of Indonesia, which was the thing that gave it its unique culture to begin with. It's full of beautiful Hindu temples, and due to this historic culture, as long as you're respectful and clean, it's still one of the most welcoming places in the world. But, it's hard to see how long this will last.

[00:15:45]Just take a look at most popular spots now. Like this famous waterfall only an hour or so from the major tourist hot spots. In these photos, it's absolutely stunning. But again, the truth is just hidden by the angle. Turn around, and you'll see the massive piles of trash that have washed downstream. Maybe they were left by influencers, or maybe they came from the overall trash problem on the island. It's obviously hard to say, but clearly it's a sign that behind the facade, Bali is now facing some serious, serious issues. As the entire island is just becoming unmanageable. To see where this ends up for Bali, we just need to look at what happened to Tulum in Mexico, another Instagram a paradise that has been entirely westernized.

[00:16:22]There, the resorts have pushed out thousands of the old village's residents, wiping out all Mayan culture and in their place, giving the town a collection of soulless resorts and condos. Now, it's completely unaffordable for any local who's had thousands of years of their family history being here to be even be anywhere near the vicinity of the town.

[00:16:39]Condos are literally selling for $300,000 in a small Mexican town. The local cenotes are now being poisoned with drugs, completely wiping out the ecosystems living within it. Cartels now roam the streets and corrupt the cops, making Tulum one of the most dangerous tourist places in Mexico. Taxis now charging $100 for tiny little trips. And as a result, less and less influencers are going, which further cripples the economy and makes the town that much more predatory. It's why the developers are so desperate to demolish the shantytowns the old residents had since moved to. So, is this the future of what Bali looks like? It seems like so many places in the world are suffering the same fate from digital nomads and influencers. And after a few years of this, what's the end game? If Western prices finally arrive in Bali and the environmental degradation continues along with the criminal gangs, the Instagrammers and digital nomads will leave and find the next spot, just like we saw in Tulum, completely destroying a whole society and culture with thousands of years of history in its wake. All ready for nothing other than nice matches and lounging around villa pools.

[00:17:40]But I guess it was all worth it for the Instagram photos. [snorts]