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The beautiful coastline in Sri Lanka is a major reason why the country has become so popular among tourists. Foreigners spend their time indulging in water sports in the coastal areas, including Pasikuda, Unawatuna, Mirissa, Marble Beach, Arugam Bay and others.
Just as the tourist season towards the East coast of the island, including Arugam Bay, was commencing, a social media post created a huge stir around the country. These posts implied that a “bikini ban” had been implemented by the residents in the Arugam Bay area. Let’s dig deeper into these viral claims.
Social Media Posts :
A widely shared poster on social media claims that a “No Bikini” sign has been posted in the Arugam Bay beach area. The full text written in the poster reads as follows.
“Dear Visitors,
Welcome to Arugambay! We are delighted to have you here and truly value your visit. To honour our local culture, we kindly request that you avoid wearing bikinis in public spaces. Your respect for our traditions means a lot to our community.
Thank you for understanding, and we hope you enjoy your time in beautiful Arugambay!
Warm regards,
People of the Local Community.
Arugambay, Pottuvil.
Many social media users had criticised this poster, suggesting that this type of “bikini ban” was being implemented in the Arugam Bay area.
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Facebook | Archived Link Facebook | Archived Link FB FB
Here are a few other posts which were shared on Facebook.
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Some have questioned whether this bikini ban actually took place, and blame the current government for such a ban. Additionally, satirical posts were shared on social media regarding this matter.
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Has the Muslim community made such a decision to inform tourists about the restrictions on the Arugambay beach? Are tourists prohibited from wearing ‘bikinis’? We took steps to check the accuracy of this claim.
Fact Check :
We took steps to inquire with relevant stakeholders to verify the authenticity of the claims.
Pottuvil Pradeshiya Sabha
We inquired about this from the Pottuvil Pradeshiya Sabha, of which Arugam Bay is a part. The Chief Management Officer stated that the Pottuvil Pradeshiya Sabha has not issued any such notice. Furthermore, they confirmed that no such notices have been posted in that area.
Pottuvil Police Station
We contacted a senior officer at the Arugambay Police Tourist Outpost, which is a part of the Pottuvil Police Station, via telephone. He stated that an order hadn’t been received to post such a poster or to take action to inform foreigners, and that no such poster was even visible on the Arugambay beach.
He also mentioned that although foreign female tourists wear beachwear such as bikinis, they do not often travel on the road in those clothes.
Arugambay Tourist Hotels
We inquired about this from several hotels in the Arugambay area, and they stated that they had not seen any posters displaying the above-mentioned notice around Arugambay or on the beach.
However, since all religions and ethnicities live in this area, a project called “NO Bikini On Street” was carried out in 2017/2018 to inform tourists. This theme was displayed on many three-wheelers, as well as in some areas of the Arugam Bay region, and it was a decision made by the “Arugam Bay Development Forum”, run by local residents, to protect the tourism industry.
They mentioned that currently, those posters are not visible, and many foreigners do not walk on the roads in bikinis. Foreigners who travel wearing bikinis are only requested not to do so, and they often wear bikinis on the beach.
We checked to see if any notices or posters said “NO Bikini On Street” and found an advertisement that was published in 2017.
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Commenting further on foreign tourists, Arugam Bay Tourist Hotels notes that this is the season when foreign tourists start to flock to the Arugam Bay area.
Some foreigners are tempted to ride motorcycles without helmets, and efforts are being made to educate them about this and protect the tourism industry.
The tourist hotels also confirm that no posters of this kind have been placed near tourist hotels, either informing them not to wear bikinis, nor have any actions been taken regarding that.
However, as shown in the above social media posts, even though people are advised to avoid wearing bikinis in public places, tourist hotels state that it is not practical since the beach is also a public place.
Below are some comments from several people involved in the tourism industry.
Arugambay regional reporters
Local reporters in Arugam Bay say that while some individuals may have personal differences of opinion, the Muslim community in the area as a whole has not raised any objections.
They mentioned that all the communities live in the Arugambay area, and since foreign tourists have been visiting the area for many years, and have travelled wearing such clothes, locals have become accustomed to them.
They also point out that there is no protest from Muslim religious places in the area. However, they also mentioned that they see a certain faction exploiting this to create problems between the races.
Deputy minister of tourism Ruwan Ranasinghe
Commenting on this, Deputy Minister of Tourism Ruwan Ranasinghe states that this is a piece of false information spreading through social media for political gain.
He pointed out that a few weeks ago, a person had walked naked on the main road in the Arugambay area. The community in the area has protested against this, and he states that the man’s naked appearance was an act carried out by some subversive group.
Source of social media posts
One of the main reasons why such a post was widely shared on social media was that this photo was posted on a Facebook account called Nowzad Arugam-Bay.
We contacted Nowzad by phone to inquire about the post, which has now been removed. He stated that the post had been shared on another Facebook account and that he had downloaded it to his mobile phone before reposting it on his own Facebook account.
Nowzad, who lives in Arugam Bay, said that on May 18th, he saw a completely naked foreigner walking in front of his business place. The video was also sent to us, pointing out that the locals are experiencing such inconvenience when travelling on the road due to the ignorance of foreigners.
He stated that since this post, which read ‘No Bikini’, was posted on the Facebook account of a person he knew, he also shared the post through that account.
However, he mentioned that the person had also removed his post from Facebook because his reposted post had gone viral and was met with hate speech, claiming that he was causing problems between races.
In previous years, Nowzd had seen such notices posted on two beachside locations, and he has recorded them and posted them on Facebook. He forwarded those instances to us as well.
On January 17th of last year (2024), he posted a video on his Facebook account of such a notice in the Ahangama area of Weligama, which stated in English, German and Russian, meaning “Swimwear is only allowed on the beach”.
Nowzad states that although such posters have been displayed in the Weligama area, where the majority of Sinhalese people reside, why are they not being displayed in Arugam Bay, where the majority of locals are Muslim and Tamil?
He also mentioned that he had seen another advertisement near the Polwatta Bridge in Weligama.
Since a photo of the aforementioned video, along with the caption ‘No Bikini’, was shared on some social media pages, many people assumed that Arugam Bay had actually posted such an advertisement.
However, Nowzad pointed out that no such post was seen on the Arugam Bay beach, and that this was just a post created by someone in his own village.
Nowzad also points out that because he published this post, he and his family members had to face questioning by the police.
During our investigation, we also found that notices stating that swimwear could only be worn on the beach have been showcased in some of the beachside areas in Sri Lanka with high tourist movements.
In 2022
In Hikkauduwa area
However, we were confirmed by those involved in the tourism industry in the area that no such advertisement is seen in the Arugambay area.
Police Media Spokesperson Buddhika Manatunga confirmed that Arugam Bay remains free of any reports related to violence, terrorism, or security threats.
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Conclusion :
Accordingly, it is clear that, contrary to the viral posts, a poster indicating “No Bikini”, had not been displayed on the Arugam Bay beach or in any other public places in Arugam Bay. All relevant stakeholders, including the local residents from the area, confirmed this.
This situation arose when a post created by a person in the area was shared on social media, after a foreigner recently walked naked on the main road, causing discomfort to the community in this area, which is predominantly Muslim and Tamil.
However, posters with the theme “NO Bikini On Street” had previously been displayed in this area in 2017/2018.
Similarly, leaders of the Muslim community in Arugam Bay, along with the police and local journalists, have confirmed that the community did not organise or display any posters or advertisements as claimed in the social media posts.
Although the Facebook post suggests that bikinis should not be worn in any public place, including the beach, which is also a public area, this does not reflect the views of the local community. Their concern was simply that bikinis should be limited to the beach and sea areas, and not worn while walking through the streets.
Title:The source of the “No Bikini” poster in Arugam Bay
Fact Check By: Factcrescendo TeamResult: Misleading
