Sri Lanka arrests Thai trans woman for topless walk

Sri Lankan police arrested a Thai trans woman for walking topless at a popular surfing resort and causing a “public nuisance,” a police officer told AFP Tuesday.

In largely conservative Sri Lanka, it is an offense for women to go topless, while men are permitted to leave their torsos uncovered. The 26-year-old, whose Thai passport lists her as male but who identifies as a woman, pleaded guilty Tuesday to two charges: indecent exposure and causing distress to others at Arugam Bay.

The court handed down a suspended six-week sentence after social media posts showed her walking topless along a tourist beach strip Monday.

“She was detained at the police station overnight and taken before the magistrate today following a lot of complaints from residents as well as on social media,” a local police officer told AFP.

The magistrate suspended the sentence for five years, meaning she will not serve immediate jail time. However, any repeat offense would trigger the six-week sentence.

Arugam Bay, located nearly 400 kilometers (250 miles) from the capital Colombo, is a well-known surfing destination. In recent weeks, the local community—largely composed of minority Muslims—had complained to authorities about scantily clad foreigners.

While Sri Lanka, a Buddhist-majority country of 22 million people, welcomes tourists, nudity remains prohibited and the general population retains a conservative outlook.

Tourism is an important source of foreign exchange for the country, which is still recovering from its worst-ever economic crisis in 2022. The economy has since stabilized, thanks in part to an International Monetary Fund bailout in 2023 and the return of tourists following the COVID-19 pandemic.