Earlier this month, it was reported that a Taiwanese tourist was fined 2,500 PHP ($49) for wearing a very revealing bikini while on holiday in the Philippine island of Boracay.

The female tourist was seen walking along Puka Beach with her boyfriend wearing a string bikini that left very little to the imagination.

The swimsuit in question was white in colour and made up of tiny pieces of fabric.

 Vietnamese model Ngoc Trinh was threatened with a fine after wearing this revealing dress on the Cannes Film Festival red carpet:

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Staff at the hotel the couple was staying at reportedly warned her that her outfit was not appropriate, but she still wore the swimsuit again the next day at the beach, which is when locals called the police.

"They were told not to by the hotel management, but they said it was a form of art," said Natividad Bernardino, chief of the Boracay Inter-Agency Management and Rehabilitation Group (BIAMRG) in a news release.

Her fellow beachgoers were stunned by the sight of the scantily clad woman and several of them even posted photos of her on social media.

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Jess Baylon, the Police Chief of Malay, which includes the Boracay, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer:

"Several residents and tourists took photos of her on Wednesday and Thursday because of what she was wearing. It was literally a string. In our conservative culture, it is unacceptable."

Well, now the woman's boyfriend has come out in defence of the 26-year-old, revealing that he is to blame for the regrettable choice of outfit.

In a recent interview with Taiwan’s Apple Daily, he explained that the pair had purchased the bikini following their arrival in Boracay and that the whole reason she was wearing it was because she'd a lost a bet. The terms of the bet have not been made public.

"We didn't even know people were taking photos, we were not the ones who took and spread those photos, yet we were the ones who were penalized," he told the publication. "If this swimsuit is considered flouting the law, then why was it sold in a local shop? "Please don't blame her."

Law enforcement in the Maldives have issued an apology to a woman they arrested earlier this week for wearing a bikini on the beach, conceding that the situation was "badly handled".

The woman, who has remained unidentified, can be heard speaking in a British accent in the clip that has been making the rounds on social media this week. Per inews, the woman was purportedly detained by police on a beach on the island of Maafushi, Kaafu Atoll, on the 6th of February.

The individual in question can be heard repeatedly shouting, "You are sexually assaulting me", while officers attempt to handcuff her. Another man can be seen trying to cover her up with a towel as she is escorted away from the area.

Watch the incident unfold below: 

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Maldives police have since claimed they received a complaint from a member of the public that stated that a woman was "inappropriately clad" and "inebriated" while walking on the island's main road just after 5pm on Thursday.

According to a police statement, she was then approached by three officers, but allegedly "refused to comply" with local regulations and "showed resistance".

The woman was ultimately arrested and transported to the local police station before being released without charge at around 7:10pm.

Watch as a neighbor calls the police on a screaming parrot:

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"Tourists on local islands are requested to respect the community's cultural sensitivities and local regulations by restricting the wearing of swimwear to certain areas of the island where local communities live," local law enforcement wrote in the statement, which was posted to their Twitter account.

"Maldives Police Services sincerely apologises to the tourist and the public for the regretful manner in which this incident took place.

“[The] incident in Maafushi in which our officers restrained a female tourist seems to be badly handled. I apologise to the tourist & the public for this. The challenge I have taken up is to professionalise the police service & we are working on that. This matter is being investigated.

Although Maafushi is a popular tourist location, wearing two-piece bathing suits are "strictly prohibited" on local islands. They are, however, permitted on holiday resorts.

Social media users have spoken out in defense of a well-known acrobat who was handcuffed by police on Myrtle Beach, S.C., after a confrontation over her swimsuit, Fox News reports.

Per Fox News, the video in question shows Sam Panda, a well-known acrobat, arguing with police over a bikini ordinance that the officers say Panda is violating.

"I literally wear this to the beach every day," she reportedly told officers.

Panda took to Facebook to share a video of the incident. She captioned the post, "Feel free to share.#cancelMyrtleBeach."

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She continued: "Also, just to clarify. A woman called the cops on me because of my bikini. That's how this all started.

"Some Karen decided that my body was offensive to her and showed her child that her body could one day lead to her arrest. Her body could be the reason a grown-ass man violates her. Her body is wrong."

And people were quick to express their support for Sam Panda on Twitter, replying to a report by TMZ posted to the social media platform.

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One commenter wrote, "It’s a beach. It’s not like it’s a children’s water park there is a time and place for bikini things and I feel like the beach is a perfect place for them. If I had her body I’d be showing it off too"

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Another added, "So ridiculous. They are on a beach and she has a bikini on. Doesn’t law enforcement have more important things to deal with ????"

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A third Twitter user wrote, "To be frank, I don't think this is justifiable means to detain someone. Especially on a beach."

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And a fourth concurred, writing, "So ridiculous, She was at the beach, she wasn't at a mall. If it were in Brazil, they would have to arrest half the people who are on the beach."

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According to Fox News, In Horry County and Myrtle Beach, thong bathing suits are considered indecent exposure and thus are prohibited in public.

When it comes to beachwear, the line between acceptable and unacceptable clothing can be a fine one, and people can find themselves in trouble when the rules around it aren't crystal clear.

Case in point, this woman, who was detained by police at Myrtle Beach after wearing a thong bikini - an incident which was caught on camera and has since inspired her to try and change the law.

Watch the woman as she is removed from the beach below: 

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In the 20-minute video above, which has now been viewed over 1.6 billion times, acrobat Sam Panda and the police can be seen arguing over the ordinance which she was said to have violated.

"A woman called the cops on me because of my bikini. That's how this all started," Panda captioned the now-viral clip.

After removing Panda and her friend from the beach, the police read the following ordinance from a binder: "[It] shall be unlawful for any person to appear in the nude at any public beach."

In Horry County and Myrtle Beach, wearing a thong is considered a form of indecent exposure.

Police told Fox 8 that they were alerted to two women "dancing and soliciting videos on the beach" while wearing thong bikini bottoms and one was dressed in a see-through bikini.

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When officers arrived, "one of the women attempted to walk away from officers and was detained," Fox 8 reported, and in the video, the officers explained that they arrested Panda for "how she was acting."

Panda was ultimately released without arrested after being escorted from the beach.

WPDE reported on Monday that Panda is now assembling a legal team to challenge the thong ban.

The ordinance states that the intentional exposure of a person's anatomical parts, dressed or undressed, is unlawful.

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Panda said that the current ordinance is discriminatory and unfair to beachgoers.

"These types of laws, I think they're archaic, I think they're dehumanizing," she told WPDE. "I think they basically make people into objects by saying your body is something that other people can look at and say 'This is right,' or 'This is wrong.'"

While Panda wishes that in a "perfect world" the law would be abolished completely, she is now hoping that the ordinance is made more "quantifiable" for the greater good of the public and the police.

"We need to be able to say, 'OK, if we're going to wear thongs, the strap on the thong needs to be an inch or two inches all the way around,'" she explained. "Something that's measurable, something that's easily defined, something that people can go 'OK, I know this is what I'm allowed to wear and this is what I'm not allowed to wear.'"

A woman who was pointed and laughed at when she took off her sarong at the beach has shared an important message on social media: that a bikini body is just a body with a bikini on.

Shelley Proebstel was visiting Mount Maunganui Beach in New Zealand with her friend last week, when she received some unsolicited attention from a group of men.

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After she was mocked for her physique, Shelley refused to be shamed into covering up, instead she used the incident to promote body positivity.

Taking to her blog and Facebook page, Bald and Beautiful, she asserted:

"To the guys who pointed and laughed when I took my sarong off today at Mt Maunganui Beach, bearing my soul (my bikini body) to the world, I just want to say (excuse my language but) F*CK YOU."

It’s because of dickheads like you that people are so incredibly insecure about their body image. It’s because of people like you that women especially don’t feel safe or confident or comfortable to go out in society in something like a bikini, or a crop top (they probably aren’t even called that anymore!) or a short dress, or with their midriff showing," she continued. 

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"It’s because of people like you that people starve themselves and make themselves sick in an attempt to maintain a ‘model-like figure'."

"It’s because of people like you that people wear long sleeves all year round because they are scared to show their arms. It’s because people like you that people become anorexic, obese, bulimic, self harm, commit suicide...I could go on... No, you are not responsible for the entirety. But YES, you have to take some responsibility."

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"So next time you see someone like me on the beach in a bikini or in a situation similar, before you laugh and point, take a moment to think about the damage you may just do, because not every person, young or old, male or female, will have learnt to have the thick skin, or the resilience, or the self confidence, that I do to brush it off.

I won’t lie, there was a split second that I almost quickly covered up again, and then I reminded myself of all I have learnt on this journey, and I held my head high and stuck my belly out and wore that bikini with pride.

Parents, I urge you to teach your children that there is no one body shape, but instead that there is a rainbow of beautiful bodies. I urge you to teach them not to stare directly at a bigger stomach than they might be accustomed to seeing on tv or in society, but instead, to look at a persons face and into their eyes. I urge you to teach them to be kind to all types of people, regardless of their outer appearance. I urge you to teach your children to accept people for exactly who they are on the inside. And I urge you to teach your children to be role models to those around them who aren’t being taught this, and to be the positive change we need to see in the world, so that in 5 or 10 or 20 years time, no more people are pointed at and laughed at by the way they look when they wear a bikini on the beach."

The post caused quite a stir with Shelley's followers. It has since garnered over 33,000 likes on Facebook, and people were quick to express their admiration for her commitment to normalising all kinds of body types.