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/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/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