# In 2024 Indonesia decided a day at the spa is entertainment. Then a court answered.

- Series: [Saunantakaa](https://miu.fm/saunantakaa.md)
- Premieres: 2026-11-05
- Page: https://miu.fm/saunantakaa/in-2024-indonesia-decided-a-day-at-the-spa-is-entertainment

## Story

In 2024 Indonesia decided a day at the spa is entertainment. Then a court answered.

In January 2024 spas were reclassified as entertainment venues, with a tax of 40 per cent (The Bali Sun). The hotels protested: spas are wellness, said their association's chairman, traditional and modern, body, soul and mind. The villa owners said they were struggling. Bali had almost seven million foreign visitors last year.

Last December, a beach club in Canggu started opening at seven in the morning, not for dancing but for sauna, steam and a cold plunge. A day pass: 999,000 rupiah, about 60 dollars. Dress code: only yourself and your swimwear. People fly to an island near the equator to be warm, then pay to be hotter, and then colder.

So, entertainment or wellness? In January 2025 Indonesia's Constitutional Court answered: a steam bath is not entertainment. It is part of traditional health services.

In Finland, we have thought about this for a long time. It is neither. It is Saturday.

Entertainment, wellness, or Saturday: what is it for you?

Sources: The Bali Sun, 12 January 2024 and 24 December 2025; Wikipedia, Bali; Constitutional Court of Indonesia, summary of decision 19/PUU-XXII/2024 (3 January 2025).
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