Violence erupts in streets of Bali as police boot foreign troublemakers from notorious expat village Parq Ubud

Fierce clashes erupted in the street of Bali’s hedonistic hotspot of Ubud after police shuttered a notorious resort that caters to Russian expats fleeing the Ukraine war and threat of conscription. 

Hundreds of officers descended on the Parq Ubud, which features long-stay accommodation, a series of bars and restaurants, a wellness centre, gym and co-work facilities, on Monday and booted out all the site’s foreign residents. 

The strongarm crackdown came after the owners of the resort – derisively referred to as ‘Russian Village’ by locals – were accused of repeatedly flouting local development restrictions.

Vision of the encounter – which has since gone viral on social media – showed residents clashing with both police and locals as they were escorted from the facility under armed guard.

Balinese locals celebrated the move on social media, claiming the expat haven’s mostly Russian residents had been running amok in the once peaceful mountain village since overtaking the town. 

The complex has earned a scurrilous reputation as the resort island struggles to contend with a growing number of foreign enclaves popping up across the tourism hotspot.

Many of the village’s inhabitants were said to be long-term residents in Bali who were banned from buying local properties by the island’s strict foreign investment provisions. 

The self-professed ‘city of the future’ has billed itself ‘a ‘global creative town for entrepreneurs, artists and investors’ and had boasted a range of high-end apartment options for expats. 

Balinese police escort foreign nationals from the notorious ‘Russian Village’ resort in the once-peaceful mountain town of Ubud 

The self-contained 'city of the future' catered to mainly Russian expats and offered long-stay accommodation, bars and restaurants, a gymnasium and co-working spaces

The self-contained ‘city of the future’ catered to mainly Russian expats and offered long-stay accommodation, bars and restaurants, a gymnasium and co-working spaces

The complex has earned a scurrilous reputation as the resort island struggles to contend with a growing number of foreign enclaves popping up across the tourism hotspot

The complex has earned a scurrilous reputation as the resort island struggles to contend with a growing number of foreign enclaves popping up across the tourism hotspot

The Parq Ubud resort features idyllic swimming pools

The Parq Ubud resort features idyllic swimming pools

‘The futuristic idea of a place where people with common values and interests come together came to life at Parq Ubud,’ the complex’s owners boasted on its official website. 

‘This community embodies the idea of a city of the future, where everyone can live among like-minded people. 

‘If you have a powerful creative energy, if you like making the world a better place, you can join our team. Leave a request and we will contact you.’ 

Balinese locals took to social media to celebrate the venue’s closure this week.

‘Great news … they have no respect for the Balinese culture, nature or island. It’s time Bali, again, belongs to the Balinese and has appropriate tourism and expat management. Bali should live forever,’ one person said. 

Another added: ‘Fantastic. Bali needs to take back its identity and demand respect.’

Bali Tourism Agency chief Tjok Bagus Pemayun said authorities had no choice but to close Parq Ubud after it violated planning regulations.

The provisions are designed to protect the island’s traditional architecture and ever-diminishing rice paddy terraces from aggressive over-development. 

Vision of the fierce tussle between police and residents at the resort went viral this week

Vision of the fierce tussle between police and residents at the resort went viral this week

One of the rooms inside the resort is pictured

One of the rooms inside the resort is pictured

‘They need to follow local regulations. Even the ‘dos and don’ts’ guidelines must be fully implemented, like respecting the local culture, and so on,’ Mr Pemayun told The Australian.

‘Whoever the owner is, they must follow the regulations. Whether it’s a local or a foreigner.’

Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association spokesman Rai Suryawijaya adeed Russians were increadly moving to Bali as a result of ‘the less productive situation in their own country’.

‘That’s why so many of these Russian villages and similar developments are happening. Moving forward, we need to be cautious,’ he said.

Russia’s new ambassador to Jakarta Sergei Tolchenov defended the country’s 40,000-odd citizens who called the resort island home last August while maintaining they were as well-behaved as any other nationality.

‘I don’t believe the people accusing Russian tourists of being the worst among foreign visitors who don’t obey local laws and customs in Bali,’ Mr Tolchenov told the Australian. 

‘I’m sure it’s not only Russians who commit crimes.’

The simmering tensions between the local Balinese residents and influx of Russian residents comes after the island took out the top spot in a list of destinations to avoid over claims its natural beauty has been eroded by tourism.

The Parq Ubud promoted itself as 'a global creative town for entrepreneurs, artists and investors' before it was shuttered by authorities for breaching local development rules

The Parq Ubud promoted itself as ‘a global creative town for entrepreneurs, artists and investors’ before it was shuttered by authorities for breaching local development rules

Fodors Magazines put the idyllic Indonesian island on its 2025 ‘No List’ along with 15 other destinations including Barcelona, Venice, Koh Samui and Mount Everest.

The travel site’s annual list highlights tourist destinations deemed ‘suffering from untenable popularity’.

The editors said the natural environment and tourism industry are intertwined in the tropical enclave and that the sheer number of visitors threatens to degrade both.

‘Rapid, unchecked development spurred by over-tourism is encroaching on Bali’s natural habitats, eroding its environmental and cultural heritage, and creating a “plastic apocalypse”,’ Fodors noted.

‘Once-pristine beaches like Kuta and Seminyak are now buried under piles of trash, with local waste management systems struggling to keep up.’

The Central Bureau of Statistics for Bali Province has noted some 3.5million foreigners had already visited the island in the first seven months of 2024.

The magazine said strong tourist numbers post-pandemic intensified the ‘strain on the island’.

Local media suggested the central south of the island suffered the most, with a high concentration of resorts, traffic, development, and waste and water management issues plaguing the area.

The natural serenity of Bali is threatened by a swathe of detractors brought by international tourism, a magazine has warned

Bali Tourism Board’s chairman, Ida Bagus Agung Partha Adnyana said the issue wasn’t the total number of visitors.

‘The problem is not the number of tourism overall, but the concentration of tourism in certain areas, especially in South Bali,’ he told the Bali Sun.

‘This causes other areas in Bali that are actually rich in culture and natural beauty not to get the same attention, either from tourists or from tourism managers.

‘Bali does not deserve to be considered a destination to avoid in 2025 because the problem faced is more about the concentration of tourism in South Bali, not overtourism as a whole.’

The deputy chairman of the Indonesia Hotels Association (PHRI), I Gusti Ngurah Rai Suryawijaya said Bali must re-evaluate itself.

‘This is a warning for Bali itself, which is that Bali must rise from having to be tired of preserving its natural culture and environment itself,’ he said.

The magazine clarified certain destinations hadn’t earned their spot for being underwhelming.

Instead they were selected for facing a swathe of existential risks posed by international tourism.

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