Asia for nudists: the best places to bare it all on holiday
Thailand is fast turning into a naturist destination thanks to four exclusive resorts, and soon a campsite, opened by Danish couple. Elsewhere, some resorts include a section for nudists
Back in 1996 when the summer Olympic Games were held in the American city of Atlanta, a local TV station reported that all the hotels there were fully booked – with one exception. This drew the interest of Tim, a Hong Kong-based engineer.
“The hotel that still had rooms was for nudists,” he says. “I like being in my birthday suit. I feel restricted when I wear clothes. I discovered then there are places that embrace being in the nude.”
The following year, he and his wife went on their first nudist trip, to Palm Springs in California, baring all in a resort with swimming pools and tennis courts together with other guests.
The couple later travelled around the world to join nudist colonies; they are members of the Human Body Art Association, which organises regular nudist meet-ups for its Hong Kong members, as well as group trips to visit overseas naturist colonies.
Given Asia’s conservative social mores, Tim says he has a hard time finding nudist destinations in countries near Hong Kong and instead travels to Australia.“With the exception of Queensland, where being naked in public is illegal, nudism is embraced all over Australia. I went to nudist beaches in Perth and Adelaide,” he says.