As the tourist season on Sri Lanka’s East Coast kicked off in late May, several posts are going viral on social media, claiming that the government has imposed restrictions on tourists from wearing bikinis in the Arugambay area.
Many users attributed this decision to the high concentration of Muslim population on the East Coast, with the move seen as an attempt to take into account the traditions the community.
Criticising the purported decision, a Facebook user wrote in Sinhala, “There cannot be different laws in different parts of the country. No different law for the Arugambay beach and another for the Southern Coast… The ban on bikinis in public places in Arugambay shows the Taliban-like mentality of Sri Lanka… God bless the booming tourism industry.”
Another user said, “Bikinis banned in Arugambay. This is what happens when leaders who have not been exposed to the world are elected.”
Similar posts, with users debating the ban, can be found here, here, here, here, here, here, and here on TikTok, Facebook, and X.
Newschecker team decided to look into the veracity of this claim due to the implications of such a ban on the tourism industry of Sri Lanka.
Fact Check/Verification
We started with a keyword search on the terms ‘bikini’, ‘ban’, & ‘Arugambay’, but did not find any reports on any official ban on bikinis imposed by the Sri Lankan government.
We also looked up the official website of the Ministry of Tourism for any such decision or directive to tourists, but found nothing relevant.
However, we noticed that many of these posts carried a poster announcing the purported ban. On a closer look at the poster, we noticed that the it was signed “People of the local community in Arugambay, Pottuvil” instead of a government body/authority. This indicates that the ‘bikini ban’ is in fact pitched as an appeal of the local community to tourists and not an official directive.
We further came across a report by Ada Derana, which carried a press conference by the Deputy Minister of Tourism, Chaminda Ranasingha, where he clarified that the news of such a ban is false and that the government has no plans to implement such a policy.
“There is no ban on bikinis, but foreigners visiting any area in the country must be sensitive to the local culture and conduct themselves accordingly. What they wear on the beaches draws little attention, but some foreigners are seen walking along streets with the minimum possible clothing on their bodies, which has upset some locals, and hence they have made a request for more modest attire when about town,” he said.
He also said that the call for ‘bikini ban’ was an attempt to disrupt the power of the NPP-led Government in the Pottuvil area. “At this time, our party is trying to establish our power in many local councils of the east and the Colombo Municipal Council with the support of the country’s Muslim population. This is an attempt by a local group trying to attack us during such a time,” he said.
A similar report by the Sunday Times can be seen here.
In statements issued to the Daily Mirror and the Morning Telegraph, the Officer-In-Charge of the police station in Pottuvil also clarified that no such ban was in place.
Conclusion
Thus we understand that certain sections of social media have misconstrued an appeal by the local community of Arugambay, to maintain modesty in dressing, as an official communication by the administration announcing a ‘bikini ban’.
Our sources
‘බිකිනි පෝස්ටුව ගැන නි. ඇමතිගෙන් ප්රකාශයක් -“බංකොලොත් දේශපාලනයට තවත් ඉඩක් නෑ”‘, Video of press conference with Deputy Minister Chaminda Ranasingha, posted on the YouTube channel of Ada Derana, May 26, 2025
‘The veil over the bikini: An appeal for a touch of modesty’, published in the Sunday Times, June 1, 2025
‘Do not panic, bikinis allowed’, published in the Daily Mirror, May 26, 2025
‘Police Clarify: No Bikini Ban in Arugam Bay Despite Viral Social Media Post’, published in the Morning Telegraph, May 26, 2025
