One Balinese girl, a barmaid, has had three abortions in the last two years. She has just turned 18. Unfortunately, none of the girl's Balinese suitors were prepared to marry her. Prostitution and drug use are also becoming more common in Bali as an increasing number of girls from all over the Indonesian archipelago discover they can make fast money from the island's booming trade in foreign tourists. Once a problem more associated in Asia with Thailand and the Philippines, Bali is now coming under increasing pressure from a growing trade in sex.
Prostitutes are obvious in many bars and discos.
Bali's problems are not confined to the Balinese. The island's image as a spiritual retreat continues to draw a healthy number of European, American and Australian travellers in search of self-revelation amid the undeniably beautiful landscape and ceremonial life. As long as they comply with visa restrictions, they are entitled to stay. Some, however, never leave. He soon dropped into a thriving nightlife scene in Legian, a beach community on Bali's southern coast, found a drugs supplier, bought himself a classic Mercedes and indulged himself in an endless round of parties.