A video showing a heated exchange between foreign tourists and local residents in Temukus Village, Buleleng recently went viral, with the whole incident reportedly leading to the tourist being sent away from the village.

“I told you this is a public beach … All the people can come,” a man can be heard saying in the video, which has been shared across various accounts and platforms.

According to a report from Kumparan, the tourist allegedly claimed that his renting the villa also meant he had private access to the beach, meaning anyone who wanted to use the beach in front of his accommodations would have to request his permission.

The local resident, identified as Gede Arya Adnyana, told Kumparan that the incident occurred on Sunday evening, as he was playing at the beach with his 3-year-old toddler. A child tourist suddenly approached them and started talking in Arabic while Arya tried to explain that he was in that area of the beach because the western side was mossy.

“After a few minutes, his father came and started talking rudely, trying to send me away in English. Basically, he said that if I wanted to use this beach I have to ask for permission because he’s rented the whole place, from the villa to the beach,” Arya told Kumparan.

When pressed further for a reason, Arya said the tourist told him that he and his family were Muslims, and therefore his wife is not allowed to look at other men, especially while Arya was using boxer shorts.

They began to argue back and forth until Arya eventually called his brother, who happened to be one of the village’s officials. He came with about a dozen other residents, and they started to mediate the situation.

The tourist remained stubborn throughout the exchange, even reportedly brandishing a knife at some point in the heated discussion.

The police were eventually called to the scene and authorities advised them to talk to the villa caretaker. Afterwards, the villa caretaker asked the tourist to leave the premises, which led the tourist to apologize and request permission to remain in the villa, which was refused by the local residents.

“Around 9.30 pm, he along with eight members of his family left, and we escorted them to the border of Temukus Village. [We told them] to visit other places outside of Bali,” Arya said.

He added that such incidents were quite common in the area, with many tourists insisting that their access to the beach should be private and off-limits to local residents. Arya said he hopes that officials from his village will issue a regulation firmly stating that the beach is public and therefore can be accessed by anyone.

Read more news and updates from Bali here.

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