Is it legal to go naked?

Does Taiwan have laws about public nudity, and if so, what do they say must be covered? No reason, just wondering…

I believe there are specific regulations for what must be DISPLAYED in certain situations for example when riding illegally modified scooters (toes, high forehead {back of head must be fully covered by safety helmet, however}) and when selling popular light stimulants immediately adjacent to the public road.

I’d been wondering that because I had this idea of starting a nudist camp. Guest of honour at the opening ceremony would be the politician/philosophy professor Zhu Gaozheng (he likes to spell it Ju Gaojeng,) who used to hang out in nudist camps when he was studying philisophy in Germany.

:sunglasses:

Have you noticed that in Taiwan, all of the bikini bathing suits have miniskirts which completely cover the butts? So I wonder if it’s illegal for girls to expose their butts. Also, I’ve seen lots of betel nut girls who wear bikini tops (or colored bras with no shirt) and miniskirts or shorts.

Well, I have seen a few betel nut girls wearing bikini bottoms without the miniskirt or shorts, but it’s less than 1% of all the betel nut girls who dress like that.

And it’s a damn shame! I support the PLF (Pigu Liberation Front).

Just after Kiko Wu stripped naked in Ximen Ding :shock: , the Taipei Times quoted officials from Taipei City Police Headquarters as saying that “any future naked romps through the city would be handled according to the nation’s Social Order Maintenance Law, and that Wu could be expelled from the country if she ‘does it again.’”

I’ve gone skinny dipping several times at beaches in Taiwan, especially at little-known beaches in Miaoli County and in Eastern Taiwan. But I always wear a bathing suit when I first go in, until the water covers my waist, and then I strip off my bathing suit and hold it in one hand while I swim. Or sometimes I put the bathing suit around my neck so I don’t lose it. (Luckily, I have never yet lost my bathing suit!)

When I used to live in Hualian, I would always go at night because all the beaches in Taiwan are completely deserted at night. And no one ever saw me. But when I started skinny dipping at beaches in Miaoli County last fall, I was shocked because I would always see police patrolling the beaches at night, even as early as 7 pm! (I guess they were looking for boats smuggling things from China.) The police would always be shocked to see someone swimming at night, and they would shine their flashlights at me for a few seconds, but then they would continue walking down the beach. (I would always quickly put my bathing suit back on when I saw them coming, but the water always covered my waist anyway, so they never knew I was skinny dipping.)

This happened about three or four times, so I discovered that the police patrol the beaches every night, all night from sunset to sunrise. So now I go skinny dipping in the daytime, and I have never seen any police on the beaches during the daytime. I know lots of beaches in Miaoli County that very few people go to, so the nearest person is usually at least 100 meters from me. And it’s really impossible to tell that a guy is naked when the water covers his waist, unless you’re standing right beside him.

I wouldn’t dare to take off my bathing suit before I go in the water, though.

A local told me that nudity is legal, except that you must be wearing one article of clothing, like a tie, or socks, or a belt, etc. Ask our resident legal expert, Richard Hartzell about it.

Kiko had some interesting things to say about Taiwan on her website about her experiences here in Taipei. Once I moved here and went to Ximending I recognized some of the places in the pics, and then last Friday when I saw the matrix in Warner Village I think I recognized another place or too… thanks for the reminder!! :smiley:

Being naked chez 家.

When I come back home from a run, I’ve now got into the habit of divesting myself of my vêtements next to the washing machine. The naked ape then pads across the living room (assuming we have no guests) and up to the 2nd floor shower.

But on the way, there are a couple of places where, if the lighting is right (or wrong!), I’m visible to the outside world through the windows. Now it don’t bother me if someone catches sight of my bushel, but my wife is worried.

Is her worry misplaced? How does at-home nudity match up to flipping that bird. Could I be sued?

[quote=“Nuit”]Being naked chez 家.

When I come back home from a run, I’ve now got into the habit of divesting myself of my vêtements next to the washing machine. The naked ape then pads across the living room (assuming we have no guests) and up to the 2nd floor shower.

But on the way, there are a couple of places where, if the lighting is right (or wrong!), I’m visible to the outside world through the windows. Now it don’t bother me if someone catches sight of my bushel, but my wife is worried.

Is her worry misplaced? How does at-home nudity match up to flipping that bird. Could I be sued?[/quote]
Legality, I have no idea, but in this country and this age of video cameras on every cell phone, do you really want to wind up on the news? Bums sleeping on the MRT get their time on the news shows here - photos of a naked foreigner would probably be headline material.

I don’t know the law for sure but as far as I can remember, you shall not cause public disturbance.
If you are in the gym or sauna, it is perfectly normal to be nude.
I guess the grade of nudity allowed depends on where you are.
Anyhow, as mentioned in previous posts, you don’t want to end up on the INTERNET like this.

[quote=“Hamletintaiwan”]I don’t know the law for sure but as far as I can remember, you shall not cause public disturbance.
If you are in the gym or sauna, it is perfectly normal to be nude.
I guess the grade of nudity allowed depends on where you are.
Anyhow, as mentioned in previous posts, you don’t want to end up on the INTERNET like this.[/quote]
Exactly! You got it right on the nose…It actually is required to be nude at some of the hot springs in taiwan. they absolutely will not let you in the water with any article of clothing on…so yes I think its perfectly legal to be nude in some places such as these.

[quote=“Nuit”]Being naked chez 家.

When I come back home from a run, I’ve now got into the habit of divesting myself of my vêtements next to the washing machine. The naked ape then pads across the living room (assuming we have no guests) and up to the 2nd floor shower.

But on the way, there are a couple of places where, if the lighting is right (or wrong!), I’m visible to the outside world through the windows. Now it don’t bother me if someone catches sight of my bushel, but my wife is worried.

Is her worry misplaced? How does at-home nudity match up to flipping that bird. Could I be sued?[/quote]
Nude at home, there are laws against that??? :noway: I doubt it. On the contrary, if they are watching you from outside they are being peeping Toms and there should be a law against THAT.

FAIK it is legal to go nekkid in ones own home and more importantly it is legal to spy on your neighbors as long as you are not using binoculars, telescopes and what not. Legal with the Nekkid eye !! :slight_smile:

Aaah so the neighbours and we engaged in a lot of LEGAL activity in Taiwan! :smiley:

I’m glad I read this thread. I’m going to have to stop doing my laundry nekid. The laundry balcony fo the new place faces other balconies. I can look into my neighbor’s homes clearly from out there. I didn’t care one whit if they saw me until someone in this thread mentioned that you wouldn’t want to end up on you-tube or the news like that! YIKES! I really hadn’t even thought of that!

I also feel it’s no big deal to walk around the house nekkid, but my wife – hell, she closes the little-tiny, way-up-high bathroom window when taking a shower, for fear the neighbors might see the top of her head. :eh:

Taiwan has some weird, vague laws about “public morality” that can be applied when some grumpy official or vengeful neighbor decides it should be applied. To quote Ben Kenobi: “We must be cautious.”

One weird aspect of nudity laws though is that it seems to be okay to show a woman’s ass. You see this all the time in ads. As long as nothing else of interest is shown it is not considered pornographic or lewd to have a pic of a completely naked woman shown from behind. Someone, who may or may not have known what they were talking about, once explained this to me. Maybe true. Certainly common experience suggests there is something to it.