On January 16, 28-year-old Kristen Gray using her @kristentootie shared her experience living in Bali. Her Twitter account has been private since (we will get to the reason later). In the following tweet, she explained why she likes living in Bali and listed the benefits of living there. She wrote how she could easily afford the elevated lifestyle at a lower price in comparison to the united state. And how she could easily work and earn even in the pandemic.
These are the screenshot of the tweet
For anyone curious about the deleted/hidden Bali thread pic.twitter.com/SyN8m3uuh9
— anak hokage (@ilhamfrdsss_) January 18, 2021
She also sold an e-book titled “Our Bali Life Is Yours” and also offered paid consultations on traveling to Bali.
The tweet got viral overnight, it got thousands of retweets and likes. But some local was angry at her. She was accused of exploiting the Bali
Many people including Indonesians and the wider Southeast Asian community were outraged saying she was encouraging Westerners to travel to a country that could worsen the COVID-19 situation.
Many others were outraged that she was promoting gentrification through her tweet.
Blowing up this tweet encouraging ppl to move into Bali to live a luxurious lifestyle for $400/mo is literally a recipe for gentrification
— aLITssa (@theyseemebowlin) January 17, 2021
The main problem or backlash she faced is due to her business. Since she is on a travel visa in a foreign country she is prohibited to do business.
FYI this lady still selling her ebook to her 10.4K followers on IG. I'd be lying if i say i feel comfortable seeing some ppl in the comments are "interested" to move to Bali to follow her path 🙃 pic.twitter.com/cN5AmtN3mD
— Dey 데이 (@toyoilohu) January 17, 2021
It is reported that many people living on tourist visas avoid paying income taxes to the Indonesian government. According to Indonesian law, it requires those who want to work to obtain an official permit, but many who work remotely maintain tourist or other temporary visas against the government’s requirements, and earn foreign currency that they declare in their home country.
She was then arrested by Immigration for abusing her residence permit in Bali. And she was immediately deported.
((KABAR TERBARU)) Setelah twitnya viral, Kristen Antoinette Gray ditangkap Imigrasi dg tuduhan menyalahgunakan izin tinggal di Bali. Warga AS ini segera dideportasi. pic.twitter.com/VR0BMeXCtL
— BaleBengong (@BaleBengong) January 19, 2021
