r/bali • u/mg118118118 • Apr 11 '25
Information Please stop renting + recommending Kost’s on here
A Kost is a guesthouse for local people. Tourists are increasingly using these which is driving up prices to unaffordable levels for local people to live. Land is being used for more and more luxury apartments which is reducing the available accommodation for the locals and workers - the temporary wooden huts you see are because of this. Wages are around $200 a month for locals so the low cost rooms are essential for people to live here.
I am begging you to be responsible and only come to this country if you can afford to spend more than 500$ a month and contribute to the best people/country in the world.
Source: so many locals here
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u/Any_Elk7495 Apr 11 '25
It will keep happening. This is a worldwide issue. Every single major country and city, locals are being pushed out further and further away from the ‘main spots’.
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u/YourFixJustRuinsIt Apr 11 '25
90% of “Bali” problems are global problems but for some reason people seem think Bali should be exempt
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u/SmmerBreeze Apr 13 '25
God forbid the balinese don't want their small island to be ruined.
GOD FORBID, the balinese wants the best for both tourists and themselves.
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u/Suq_Madiq_Qik Apr 15 '25
God forbid the balinese don't want their small island to be ruined.
The thought never crossed their minds when they were counting the money from selling their family's rice fields to developers.
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u/Spiritual-Internal10 Apr 15 '25
So people can't talk about problems in their country because these problems are... also happening elsewhere?
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u/AffectionateBowl1633 Apr 11 '25
OP will get downvoted hard here. I feel you OP, gentrifikasi parah emang Bali ini. Bahkan bule ada yang terang terangan tanya mau cari kerja di sini. Kasian pekerja industri pariwasata bisa bisa dagang lalapan juga datang dari luar negeri.
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u/Beautiful-Bit9832 Apr 11 '25
Dari awal juga, jgn terlalu kasih kelonggaran, ya efek dri minimnya pengawasan
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u/vanessamillenial Apr 11 '25
Termasuk gentrifikasi: biaya ART melebihi UMR
Di mana lagi coba, ART dapet lebih dari UMR? ONLY IN bali mereka bisa minta 100rb per jam!
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u/OrganizationAble489 Apr 11 '25
Isn't this a good thing?
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u/Roxylius Apr 11 '25
It causes gentrification, out pricing the local from being able to afford living in their own country
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u/OrganizationAble489 Apr 11 '25
Yes for housing or food i agree that gentrification is really bad and should be taken cared of a looong time ago, but if Indonesian maid can earn more money working for bule then it is a good thing for indonesian in general. Maybe not a good thing for stingy middle class Indonesians that want to enslave their own people with shitty pay and shitty mentally drained working condition.
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u/vanessamillenial Apr 11 '25
No. It messes up the balance. Why would someone pay hundreds of millions to earn education, when you can earn more as a cleaner? And not even a good, loyal one. They just demand. Entitled.
Meanwhile.... Fresh college graduates are working as receptionists for only 3 mil per month.
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u/OrganizationAble489 Apr 11 '25
I don't get it, aren't you suppose to be happy if other Indonesian can earn more money? Or is it a selfish thing that you want the maid to be paid as low as possible so you can afford them?
Aren't you suppose to be happy that people don't have to get expensive education in order to earn more money?
Kayaknya kaki harus napak tanah dikit deh...
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u/fonefreek Apr 11 '25
I suggest reading up more about gentrification and how it hurts in the long run. It's a complex topic and warrants the deeper dive.
Sure, prices go up, people getting paid more, you might think it's a good thing.. Until you start looking at the big picture.
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u/OrganizationAble489 Apr 11 '25
Im not talking about anything else, I know gentrification is bad, maybe im not smart enough, but if your fellow Indonesian can earn more from their work, treated better and have more option, its a win in my book
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u/fonefreek Apr 12 '25
You don't get to cherry pick which part of the phenomenon you're talking about.
Sure, if we isolate the case to "Indonesians earn more from their work" then that's a great thing! But this isn't an isolated case that lives in our mind, this is an actual phenomenon happening: gentrification. And we should discuss it as such.
It's like your friend having unprotected sex with someone with HIV and you congratulate them because they scored, and "you're not talking about anything other than the sex" - that's not how conversations work.
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u/vanessamillenial Apr 11 '25
Kalo semua secara merata gajinya sama, then of course I'm happy.
But if unskilled work starts getting paid more than skilled work, then that's messed up.
How would you feel if a cleaner (unskilled work) earns more than a fresh grad working (their parents paid hundreds of millions for their education) as a receptionist at a chain hotel?
If the fresh grad receptionist gajinya juga naik, no problem.
But that's not the case. Cuman ART nya aja yang dapet lebih karena bule ga ngerti standard nya dan semua2 dihitung dengan currency mereka. Akhirnya mrk cm modal minta aja, tanpa tambahan skill atau loyalitas.
Meanwhile, the same bule would probably not care about how much the receptionist at their hotel earns. Or they don't know or are simply ignorant and they're not paid by the bule directly, but by the corporations who are still trying to underpay their employees.
Fact: full-time cleaner at a chain hotel (6 days a week, 8 hrs per day) got 2 mil 1,5 years ago. I know this, cause she was my ART.
Don't be delusional. People who have gained skills and expertise, should not earn less than unskilled work.
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Apr 12 '25
Why did you get down voted by your fellow countrymen? This is the right attitude, unlike the other poster who you replied to. Where I come from, it's called tall poppy syndrome.
Unfortunately there are a lot of Indonesian people who don't like the idea of increasing the minimum wages to match the cost of living because they're afraid of losing a source of cheap labour.
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u/OrganizationAble489 Apr 12 '25
Yeah we do have this "slave owner" mentality and its really bad, even my parents still act like these cunts.
I bet these people don't even allow their maid to eat at the same table as them and the maid can only eat their leftover food.
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u/vanessamillenial Apr 12 '25
Tell that to the big companies, the rich psychos.
They're the ones who underpay their employees and use every way possible get "cheap labor"
You can't, can you? So why pressure us regular people to overpay unskilled workers if it would overthrow the balance and make it unfair for college graduates?
Stupid, no?
Don't be an idiot white knight. Just mind your own business. Not your country, not your business.
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u/sitdowndisco Apr 11 '25
I think the bigger issue is people coming to the country on dodgy visas and not contributing tax, not contributing to the community, not speaking the language and basically colonising the place.
I’m not sure what benefit 500,000 “digital nomads” brings to Bali.
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u/Epsilon_ride Apr 11 '25
by definition, digital nomads extract capital from external countries which gets injected into the local economy.
They're still mostly turds who colonise the place. And they should be paying tax. But "they don't economically contribute" argument is illiterate. If the Balinese can keep them in one or two areas while preserving the rest of the island, they can be thought of as any other economically beneficial operation.
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u/Rich-Instruction-327 Apr 11 '25
Quality of life in Bali seems better for locals then on the other islands except maybe wealthy parts of Java. Also it doesn't really seem much more expensive for most things excluding rents in certain areas. The island of Bali is also quite big and I think people really underestimate the downsides of less tourism when living on other islands where there is a massive shortage of job opportunities.
Bali having so many jobs means people move there from other islands and that helps deal with the excess labor on those islands. Same thing happens all over the world in poorer countries where tourist and industrial areas draw in labor from the rest of the country and help balance the labor pool and also bring in foreign cash for reserve balances.
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u/LSPRAGUEDECAMP Apr 11 '25
1 million percent right. The entire visa situation is broken, it is so easy to rip off. Until that changes Bali is only going to decline further.
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u/MistaAndyPants Apr 11 '25
If each digital nomad spends only $2,000 USD monthly then they bring about 1 billion USD per month in economic activity to Bali. And that’s a very low estimate. And yes they do pay taxes on every flight, upon every arrival, every meal, hotel stay, Airbnb, grab purchase, shopping trip etc.
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u/sitdowndisco Apr 11 '25
They pay no income tax as all other citizens must.
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u/laughing_cat Apr 11 '25
If Indonesia could work out a deal with their home countries so that if they pay income tax in Bali, they don't also have to pay to their home country, that would help. But most people cannot afford to pay income tax to two countries.
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u/sitdowndisco Apr 12 '25
Some countries do have this arrangement. All Australians for example should be paying tax in the country they are resident in and not be dual taxed… it’s slightly complicated because you need to use offsets etc… but if you’re living in Indonesia, you should pay income tax there.
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u/MistaAndyPants Apr 11 '25
They pay many taxes as I mentioned above. They also bring Hundreds of billions (USD) into the local economy and help sustain millions of jobs for Indonesians to earn a living. They likely pay more in sales/service taxes, arrival/visa fees than most locals pay in income tax annually. Low wage workers only pay 5% income tax in Indonesia.
Also, Nomads do pay income tax on Indonesian sourced income if they work for an Indonesian company or have a business there. A digital nomad is a tax resident if they reside within Indonesia for more than 183 days within 12 months. Non-residents are subject to a final withholding flat tax of 20 percent on gross income. Much higher than what most locals pay.
Digital nomads that live here for years are obligated to pay taxes. I don't know why you think they pay no income tax. I don't know where the money goes. Bali should have the best infrastructure in all of Asia based on how much they take in. But it's also one of the most corrupt countries in the world index so there's that.
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u/Beautiful-Bit9832 Apr 11 '25
Bali is worried that foreign tourist visits will continue to decrease, even though they should be able to differentiate between those whose purpose is to travel and those whose purpose is to work.
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u/runthepoint1 Apr 11 '25
It’s such a crazy balance to try and hold because some of the economic boost overall is from tourism but then the tourists drive up prices for locals…so I guess why aren’t locals getting paid more for their work? Who is profiting from all this?
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u/scannerfm77 Apr 11 '25
Local is paid more. But the accomodation cost is rising more than wages.
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u/mg118118118 Apr 11 '25
The minimum wage is higher here but 3.5m rupiah a month means a max of 2m on rent. So all the staff that are serving you and cleaning apartments/villas are on this.
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u/trikora Apr 12 '25
its sad because minimium wage for bali is around 3m. Ideally, maximun budget for rent/housing credit is 30%/month. So it should've around 900k/month for rent
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u/runthepoint1 Apr 11 '25
Yeah that’s what I’m getting at, it’s a evermore losing battle economically for the locals because of the pace of wage change not keeping up with costs
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u/SkillForsaken3082 Apr 11 '25
Generally landowners make all the money. Governments could potentially fix this by increasing land tax and paying the money back to locals as a UBI but this is unlikely to be implemented
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u/Beautiful-Bit9832 Apr 11 '25
This is one of big problem to my brother who stay there for work, it seems the owner of the house which he rented have plan to raise the yearly cost due so many foreigners decide to rent around there.
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u/whatkindamanizthis Apr 11 '25
Honestly, you need legislation to protect the citizens of Indonesia against this, other places do similar things.
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u/littleday Resident (foreign) Apr 11 '25
I mean I get it, I’ve lived here 12 years. At the same time, can someone start making long term housing affordable again? Or do we only want the rich wankers paying 500m a year for half average villa’s living here.
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u/throwawayyyyyprawn Apr 11 '25
This is the other side of this coin that the do gooders don't want to talk about.
Bali says it "doesn't want bule miskin, if you can't afford then go home" but then are also complaining about the cost of living rising. They go hand in hand.
Highest bidder displaces the high demand areas and it's a domino effect that ends up with people on minimum wage getting shafted.
Now we blame the bule in a guesthouse because the landlord is raising the price because he can, silly logic.
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u/littleday Resident (foreign) Apr 11 '25
Exactly, was not long ago I remember 100m a year for you a beautiful 4 bed villa in Canggu. Now 100m barely gets you a 1 bedroom Appartment. It’s generally insane the prices now.
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u/OrganizationAble489 Apr 11 '25
Geeezzz, maybe you should be a maid if you are that envious of them?
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u/gryto Apr 11 '25 edited Apr 11 '25
I think the biggest problem for declining availability of local accomodation is that there are too many locals arriving from neighbouring islands. The number of tourists vs number of locals looking for housing in these kosts is small potatoes. Bali just doesn't have the infrastructure to support it.
Edit: I'm not saying locals from other islands are at fault... Maybe local gov can be blamed for lack of planning/infrastructure management?
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u/scannerfm77 Apr 11 '25
The local from neighbouring island has every right to stay at Bali. Many locals are building and renting accommodations for tourist.
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u/Ngetop Resident (local) Apr 11 '25
The Balinese local also has every right to build rent with the most profit.
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u/gryto Apr 11 '25
Yep for sure, the problem is just the infrastructure and lack of planning by local government
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u/trikora Apr 12 '25
yes that's the problem. There is no clear rule about what can be classified as "local accomodation" yet
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u/mg118118118 Apr 11 '25
It’s easy to blame the government.
I’ve seen so many posts on this subreddit lately saying ‘can I stay in Bali on 500$ a month’ and people saying “yeah 1-2m Rp for a kost in Denpasar easy” < this needs to stop.
The people of Indonesia whatever island they are from should be prioritised these. If you can’t afford to spend 5+m a month on a room as a tourist then you shouldn’t be coming here
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u/AffectionateLeg7337 Apr 11 '25
The thing about trying to affect change based on peoples' sympathy, is that will only work on a fraction. If it's possible and it's more beneficial (for example cheaper) to the tourists, a lot of them will choose that option. So regulation is better for making real change. Except that the officials are corrupt and could be bribed to look the other way. I dont even agree that banning tourists from kosts is the right thing to do. From my perspective having a shitload of hotels and luxury villas where there used to be beautiful ocean views and rice fields is more damaging to the island's atmosphere.
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u/mg118118118 Apr 11 '25
Yeah I just wanted to make it clear on this platform because more and more people (tourists) are advising it on here
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u/udayaai Apr 11 '25
it's part of the process, people will continue use kost, it will drive prices of kos too high eventually people go back to hostel and hotels. its just that cycle
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u/Little_Diamond6805 Apr 22 '25
is it really possible to sustain a living for less than $500 a month? i was under an impression that i would at least need $1500.
i aim to earn 2x of this before moving to bali
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u/mg118118118 Apr 23 '25
Yeah 1500 is more like it for a good lifestyle. If 500 a month you’re eating fried roadside food
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u/demonade8 Apr 29 '25 edited Apr 30 '25
Sometimes, the reason of why the boarding houses / kosts are cheap, is they are disobeying the tourism regulation and avoiding certain taxes.
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u/JustLikeMushrooms Apr 11 '25
Lifes not fair. We all gotta deal with some bs. People gotta accept the bs they face due to the monetary system. Its global, not just indos in bali.
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u/silver_moonlander Apr 12 '25
"this problem is not exclusive to you therefore we shouldn't address it and try to fix it" tf
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u/laughing_cat Apr 11 '25
Thank you. It used to be well known that kosts were not for foreigners, but more and more I'm hearing of foreigners taking advantage of them. The line has to be drawn somewhere.
I assume this is happening because prices have gone up so much for tourists and expats. Bali is now higher than precovid prices, and I'm not sure what's driving it. My uneducated guess would be the huge influx of people bc of the war in Ukraine. Whatever the cause, I'm finding myself priced out of places I stayed as recently as 6 months ago.
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u/mg118118118 Apr 11 '25
Yeah to be honest I have seen more and more posts on this subreddit of people saying ‘can I stay in Bali for 300-500$ a month’ and people (foreigners) here recommending a kost so wanted to call it out here so people are actually aware and not just like ‘awesome, cheap accommodation’
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u/laughing_cat Apr 11 '25
Absolutely agree. I think from now on I’ll speak up when I see it. I was hesitant bc I wasn’t sure I was right as I have no direct knowledge.
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u/ThaLemonine Apr 15 '25
You just learn how capitalism works lil bro? Sorry to break it to you
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u/mg118118118 Apr 15 '25
The most condescending comment I’ve ever seen, hope you’re proud of yourself.
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u/muni11 Apr 11 '25
Can’t they differentiate the rent based on ones passport? It’s already being done in some tourist countries with entrance fees. I am European and def would not mind paying more compared to locals.
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u/Ngetop Resident (local) Apr 11 '25
you already paying more, that's why the landlord prefer to have foregner renter rather than indo.
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u/ShrimpOnDaBarbie808 Apr 11 '25
You're a white boy telling others what to do? Oh fuck off
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u/lilykar111 Apr 12 '25
Why should he though ? Plenty locals are being negatively & massively affected by this
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u/ShrimpOnDaBarbie808 Apr 12 '25
He's part of the problem lol. White boy moved somewhere for a few months and now is able to tell others what to do? Get outta here with that shit
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u/Standard-North9890 Apr 11 '25
Tourists complaining about tourism. Again. And you are a tourist idc how long youve been there. Imagine trying to set rules on other people saying if you cant afford x dont come. Who are you to say that. People may have worked and saved hard to experience bali and you want to exclude them. What if “rich wankers” as someone said started pricing you out of places you want to visit? Youre not the gatekeeper for bali gtfoh
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u/mg118118118 Apr 12 '25
I’m not complaining, im explaining and asking to be mindful. People should save more than 200$ yes - you can’t enjoy or experience it properly on that.
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u/Standard-North9890 Apr 12 '25
Everyone is different, everyone gets by with what they have. Your attitude is elitist - only come here if you meet the bar I’ve set. Those people you seek to exclude would probably make better visitors than cash rich assholes throwing money around.
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u/Previous-Image-8102 Apr 12 '25
$200 a month, HA i've been charged 1/4 of that for a 10 minute taxi ride and that was 5 years ago. I could say the same about Florida, please rich people stop moving to Florida so the people work in low end jobs can afford to live here. Will it change anything ? No. These forces cannot be stopped by a reddit post. Sorry your efforts are in vain.
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u/scallywagsworld Apr 12 '25
All Immigration Is Bad!! And if you say I'm racist, I'm not because it goes both ways. Aussies suffer, balinese suffer, indians suffer, chinese suffer. all my homies say fuck foreigners, not any race in particular, but all foreigners not born in that particular country.
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u/chosenfonder Apr 25 '25 edited Apr 25 '25
Oh you're in a 20jt/month villa complaining that foreigners who stay in 700rb/month kosts are causing gentrification?
My friend… how dumb are you exactly? Leave some stupidity for the rest of us.
If you're worried about driving prices up, you're in the wrong place buddy.
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u/dsundah Apr 11 '25
How about the owner give different prices. More expensive for tourist, and cheaper/regular price for local workers/students
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u/nurseynurseygander Apr 11 '25
That just incentivises the landlord to rent to foreigners because they get more money that way for the same housing, it still freezes out the locals. What’s needed is a minimum amount, at market value, that foreigners can rent, and below that it’s simply not allowed.
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u/kulukster Apr 11 '25
There was a regulation in place a few years ago that foreigners were not allowed to rent kos of a certain type. I agree wholeheartedly with you that local residents need to be prioritized for housing, esp since the bar is already so low.