Fines and confiscations as Kuala Lumpur cracks down on photographers

While many Europeans are considering putting long-haul flying on the back burner as jet fuel costs and airfares climb, those with a trip already booked for Malaysia may need to watch out if ambling around with a camera slung across a shoulder.

Following an early April warning about unlicensed street photography, city authorities in Kuala Lumpur, the country’s biggest city, have confiscated equipment from six people, five of them non-Malaysians, pending payment of fines levied under street hawking regulations.

According to local media reports, Kuala Lumpur City Hall said enforcement would be carried out from time to time because unauthorized photography breaches hawking rules and could pose a safety risk to visitors and drivers.

Street photographers at Kuala Lumpur landmarks have often offered tourists a more professional alternative to a selfie for a fee.

Malaysia is one of the world’s most popular holiday destinations, with government statistics showing 42 million arrivals in 2025. This is around 10 million more than neighbouring Thailand, which usually records Southeast Asia’s highest foreign visitor numbers, but which last year saw a plunge amid an on-off border conflict with Cambodia.

Malaysia’s visitors include travellers crossing by land from Thailand to the north and from Singapore to the south, with Kuala Lumpur a half-day bus ride from the city-state, as well as crossings on the island of Borneo, which Malaysia shares with Indonesia and Brunei.

Kuala Lumpur is known for the Petronas Twin Towers, the headquarters of the eponymous state oil company and from 1996 to 2004 the world’s tallest building at around 450 metres high, and for the Kuala Lumpur Tower, almost as high at 421 metres.

As well as offering imposing backdrops for those with a lens capable of capturing them, both towers can be accessed by visitors, allowing for sweeping views down and across the vast city.