The Grumpy Traveller looks at the fall out from the Bali drug trial that has put Australia at odds with its neighbour,

Hoteliers in Bali have a good reason to be nervous.

They are facing a backlash in the aftermath of the 20-year jail sentence handed down to Australian Schapelle Corby by a court in Denpasar last Friday.

Corby's incarceration has dominated talkback radio and the letters columns of Australia's newspapers this week.

Corby, 27, arrived at Denpasar airport last October with more than four kilos of marijuana hidden in her surf body board bag.

There has been an emotional reaction in Australia to the sentence. Travel agents have been among those calling for Australians to boycott Bali.

One newspaper's poll on Corby's trial was inundated with 4790 calls on the question of whether Australians should avoid Indonesia in protest. The idea of a boycott won the support of 4391 readers, while 399 voted against the idea.

Hostility towards Indonesia has been fanned by perceptions that Corby got "20 years for a bit of dope" while Abu Bakir Bashir got only 30 months for his role in the Bali bombings.

The tourism industry in Bali fears a backlash despite an appeal from Corby for Australians to remain faithful to Bali, where 260,000 Australians travelled last year.

Michael Burchett, general manager of the Conrad Bali and spokesman for the Bali Hotels Association, has been calling for calm.

"There is a real concern the emotions over there will develop into something which gets out of hand," he said.

"Step back and see the broader perspective. Should the Bali people suffer once again for something they had nothing to do with?"

The raw emotion that followed the sentencing of Corby is beyond sound reason surely.

Corby's defence was that airport workers in Australia planted the marijuana in her body board without her knowledge.  It was never alleged that airport workers in Denpasar were involved.

Even though Balinese Customs officials are known from personal experience to take the odd bribe or two to allow an extra bottle of wine into the country, the evidence given by two Customs officers at the trial seemed plausible.

Apart from the undignified way in which this trial was conducted within and outside the court in Denpasar, one other aspect of the case should be considered.

Australians go to Bali because it is a totally a different culture to their own.  Apart from the 15,000 rupiah beach massages and the cheap Bintang beer, Australians are attracted to the myth and magic of the Island of the Gods.

Following Corby's trial Australia may not like the culture of the justice system in Bali, but like their religious and community rituals, that's the way they do things.

To hurl insults, and threaten Bali with a travel boycott, helps no-one – least of all Schapelle Corby.



IAN JARRETT is based in Fremantle, Western Australia from where he travels frequently in Asia on assignments for travel magazines.

He is a member of the BamBoo Alliance, a group of leading travel writers in the region. He can be contacted at ianjarrett@mac.com