JAKARTA — Before sunrise on July 22, runners in wireless headphones moved through Canggu behind an emcee and a mobile DJ. They danced in the road as scooters passed beside them, following music that no one outside the group could hear.
Entourage Bali called it a Silent Disco Run. The 5.30 am event was the first run for which the group sold tickets, with 120 issued through 94 orders because the number of headphones was limited. Entourage claimed the police secured the route.
The group had arrived in Bali over a year ago with a larger plan.
Dutch founders Joost Storms and Hidde van Vliet wanted to build a social network for digital nomads, with regular runs, padel matches, surf sessions and events hosted with local venues. Van Vliet said Entourage held more than 250 events in its first year and grew its WhatsApp communities to over 4,000 members.
Van Vliet later told Business Insider that he and Storms had met while working at PwC and developed the idea for Entourage after leaving their corporate jobs. They spent three weeks in Bali in October 2024, interviewing dozens of travellers and local businesses before moving to the island in March 2025. Van Vliet said they wanted to create an alternative to both “backpacker chaos” and “closed expat circles.”
Then Indonesian applicants began publishing their exchanges with the organisers.
One woman said Entourage delayed her application while approving her foreign husband, who used a Western name and overseas phone number. Other screenshots appeared to show Indonesians being rejected or left waiting while foreign applicants entered the same groups.
One exchange included in a widely shared post by Christian Giacobbe, an Italian comedian who lives in Indonesia, shows an organiser asking an applicant whether she was Indonesian. After she answered yes, the organiser referred to an automated system and Entourage’s focus on digital nomads.
Entourage admitted that its system had rejected some Indonesians.
“A bias was created that some, and not all, +62 numbers or Indonesians were incorrectly rejected,” the group said in an apology posted on Instagram. It paused its events and promised to change the approval process.
The apology drew attention to the foreign nationals running the events.
Indonesian users tagged immigration offices and asked officials to inspect their permits. Immigration identified Storms, 35, as the holder of a work ITAS and van Vliet, 37, as the holder of an investor ITAS.
Storms and van Vliet had allegedly already left Indonesia for Singapore when officials placed them on the country’s entry-ban list. Immigration said their activities as event organisers did not match the permits they held.
In a written response to Migrant Times, translated from Dutch, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of the case only through media reports. “We are not officially involved and are aware of it through the press,” the ministry said.
“The ministry and our embassy in Jakarta have so far received no request for consular assistance,” it added. “We have also received no official notification from the immigration service.”
"Has Bali Been Sold?"
“Has Bali been sold?” is a shorthand for a growing resentment. It reflects a fear that some foreign residents can build businesses, communities and private networks on the island while treating Indonesians as outsiders.
The controversy soon expanded beyond Entourage’s running events to the wider network of private groups and activities it operated in Bali.
Its public directory linked to private groups for accommodation, second-hand sales, padel, volunteering, creators and women. Separate chats covered events and social life in Canggu, Ubud and Uluwatu. Entry to some groups and non-running activities required approval.
Alexandra Amanda, a Balinese resident who travels regularly to Bangkok, was among those sharing material from the communities.
“Based on the information available and confirmation from several sources with access to the community, the screenshots did indeed come from Entourage’s internal WhatsApp groups,” Amanda said.
She said the network included several chats, including Entourage Girls, where members exchanged information not only about runs but also about brand collaborations, social events, villa parties, accommodation and business opportunities.
Migrant Times reviewed some of the screenshots associated with the controversy.
In one screenshot, an Indonesian woman asked to attend an Entourage Pilates session and was told the class was full. She later contacted a friend from London, who said the organiser had allowed her to bring another person.
“Little did I know, if you’re Indonesian, you really can’t come,” the woman wrote.
Entourage said that its ordinary runs were open without registration. Its admission error affected WhatsApp groups and non-running events, including activities created specifically for digital nomads.
Entourage said Indonesians were the largest single nationality at the Silent Disco Run, accounting for nearly 25 per cent of tickets. But the comparison treated each foreign nationality separately. Taken together, non-Indonesians accounted for more than three-quarters of attendees.
The statement, however, did not identify the criteria used to screen applicants. Entourage did not say who chose them or why an Indonesian name or +62 phone number affected admission.
For Indonesians who said they had been rejected, the network looked markedly different. The screenshots and Entourage’s own admission suggested that an Indonesian identity or +62 phone number could become a disadvantage inside a community operating on an Indonesian island.
Amanda said the case touched a broader resentment that had been building among local residents.
“This wasn’t only about one community or one incident,” she said. “It was about the perception that some newcomers build exclusive circles and economic networks, and in some cases treat local people as though they are outside the community.”
She said the anger also reflected concerns about suspected visa misuse, businesses operating outside their permits, rising land prices and living costs, and a perception that some foreign residents did not respect Indonesian laws and norms.
“There is an impression that some foreigners feel they don’t need to respect the norms or laws that apply in Indonesia,” Amanda said.
One screenshot she shared appeared to show the administrator of an expatriate marketplace in Amed, a coastal area in northeastern Bali, saying that local members had been removed “to make sure that all foreigners feel more safe.”
A longer message attributed to the administrator said the group had started as a place for expatriates to trade second-hand goods and had become difficult to manage as it expanded.
Amanda later reposted a photograph from the same foreign resident showing a Balinese ceremony at his home.
“How are you kicking out Balinese but asking Balinese to bless your home?” she wrote.
No Viral, No Justice
Bali senator Niluh Djelantik publicly urged immigration officials and police to examine the complaints.
In an Instagram post showing an Entourage run, she asked authorities to examine the organisers’ residence permits and the permissions for their events. “Our hospitality should never be mistaken for a licence to disrespect us,” she wrote.
“Utilising public spaces while rejecting local residents is unacceptable.”
Immigration Director General Hendarsam Marantoko ordered officers in Bali to examine the people behind the event. He accused the group of creating a “state within a state” and said foreigners could not organise activities outside the conditions of their permits.
Immigration said Storms held an ITAS for employment and van Vliet an investor ITAS. Both permits were guaranteed by an Indonesian limited-liability company that officials identified only as PT SIG. Public statements reviewed by Migrant Times did not disclose the company’s full registered name, ownership, address or licensed business activities. The Ngurah Rai Immigration Office summoned the company to explain the founders’ activities and whether they corresponded with the stay permits it had guaranteed.
Officials also did not disclose Storms’s approved occupation or formal position within the sponsoring company. A work ITAS is tied to a particular role and employment arrangement. Indonesia maintains separate work-visa categories for management, finance, marketing, engineering and other occupations.
The Dutch ministry said it advised Dutch entrepreneurs operating abroad to comply with local rules. “We always advise entrepreneurs abroad to follow local visa and labour regulations as closely as possible, including in Indonesia,” it said, adding that they should also act in line with international responsible-business standards.
Under Indonesia’s standard E28A investor visa, an applicant must hold at least Rp10 billion in shares in the sponsoring company. The official fee is Rp7 million for one year or Rp9.5 million for two years. The shareholding requirement is separate from the visa fee.
In the same interview, Van Vliet said he and Storms invested about US$17,500 in Entourage. He said the money covered their visas, company formation and some marketing, excluding living expenses. Van Vliet did not say whether the US$17,500 represented the value of his shares or only the pair’s initial operating costs, so the figure cannot be directly compared with the Rp10 billion shareholding requirement.
But the lack of detail is significant because Bali has begun scrutinising the corporate and visa arrangements behind small foreign-owned ventures.
On July 23, the provincial government announced that it had blocked new foreign-investment applications in 18 business categories through Indonesia’s Online Single Submission system.
The restriction had been in force since the third week of May. The list includes cafés, small hotels, vehicle rentals, real estate, management consulting, fitness centres and sports-event promoters. Several sit close to the services that have grown around Bali’s foreign population.
Governor Wayan Koster said foreign investors had used low-risk business classifications to enter sectors closely tied to local small businesses. Some licences required little more than a Business Identification Number and could be issued automatically. Officials also found companies using virtual offices while carrying out different activities on the ground.
The provincial restriction applies to new foreign-investment business applications. Immigration’s action against Entourage concerned the activities performed by its founders under their stay permits. Authorities have not said that the 18-sector measure formed part of the case against Storms or van Vliet.
Amanda said the restrictions showed that the government was beginning to acknowledge local concerns, particularly those involving the protection of smaller Indonesian businesses.
“I think the policy is a step that shows the government is beginning to respond to people’s concerns,” she said, “especially concerns about protecting local businesses and sectors that should remain open to Indonesian entrepreneurs.”
But she cautioned that the restrictions would only matter if they were enforced.
“Its effectiveness will depend on implementation and enforcement,” Amanda said. “Good regulations will not mean much if they can still be bypassed through rogue agents, shell companies or other practices designed to avoid the rules.”
The Entourage case also unfolded during a wider enforcement push in Bali.
In April, immigration established the Dharma Dewata patrol task force to inspect areas with high concentrations of foreign residents. Officers have since conducted regular patrols looking for activities that do not match foreigners’ visas or stay permits.
By the end of June, immigration offices across Bali had deported 342 foreign nationals, mostly for overstaying or misusing their stay permits.
Amanda said the controversy nevertheless strengthened the perception that official action often depends on public pressure. “We felt that our reports and concerns only received serious attention after the case went viral on social media,” she said.
“That is where ‘no viral, no justice’ comes from—the perception that law enforcement moves faster once the public is watching.”
Southeast Asia’s “Digital Nomad” Test
Bali’s dispute is not isolated. Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have been competing to attract people who earn abroad but spend locally.
Indonesia’s E33G visa allows remote employees to live in the country while working for an overseas company. Malaysia markets its DE Rantau Nomad Pass to foreign freelancers and remote workers. Thailand lists its Destination Thailand Visa under “workcation” activities.
But recent cases have shown what happens once foreign visitors begin running programmes, managing properties or dealing with local customers.
In Malaysia, scrutiny fell on Network School, a residential technology programme founded by American investor and former Coinbase executive Balaji Srinivasan. The organisation operated from Forest City in Johor, providing accommodation, classes and networking for founders and technology workers.
The investigation began with social-media allegations that Network School had allowed Israeli nationals to enter Malaysia using passports from other countries.
Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with Israel, and the Johor government ordered checks on participants’ identities, travel documents, entry purposes and activities. It also instructed local agencies to inspect the organisation’s licences, premises and land use.
Immigration officers later examined the documents of 266 foreign nationals at Network School. All held valid travel documents, although officials said further checks on their activities were continuing.
Srinivasan said the inquiry had placed lawful residents under suspicion and threatened Malaysia’s attempts to attract foreign technology workers and investors. “The process is the punishment,” he said.
Inspectors from the Iskandar Puteri City Council found problems they could act on.
Network School occupied two premises. One was licensed as an administrative office but was also being used for classes. The second had no council-issued business licence. Inspectors also found advertising and business promotion carried out without the required approval.
The council issued a stop-business notice before revoking the licence held by NS0 Malaysia Sdn Bhd and ordering Network School to cease its Forest City operations from July 22.
The initial allegations concerned immigration and Israeli participants. The document inspection found that Network School’s residents had valid papers. The council’s case rested on the way the organisation used its premises and the licences covering its operations.
Johor Chief Minister Onn Hafiz Ghazi said the state continued to welcome investment that created jobs and supported development. “No investor, company or organisation may be placed above the sovereignty of the country’s laws,” he said, as quoted by Reuters.
The distinction between investment and day-to-day work appeared more directly in Siargao, a Philippine island where cafés, yoga studios and small resorts have grown alongside its international tourism industry.
On July 1, Philippine immigration officers arrested New Zealand national Teryn Jane Spencer and Swiss national Dario Salvatore Di Capua at a resort in San Isidro. Authorities accused the pair of managing a homestay, café and yoga operation while staying in the country as tourists.
The pair told investigators they were investors.
To test that account, immigration officers posed as customers planning a team-building event. According to the Philippine Bureau of Immigration, Spencer met the undercover officers, showed them around the property, explained accommodation rates, discussed yoga classes and arranged their booking.
Investigators treated those actions as direct involvement in the business. Spencer and Di Capua were placed in immigration custody pending deportation proceedings.
“A tourist visa is not a license to work or run a business in the Philippines,” Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said.
Migrant Times contacted Storms and Entourage Bali for comment. Neither had responded by publication time.
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