They came to Australia to make money in massage parlors, but have ended up using their hands for "extras" for $15 and offering the "full service" for $120.
Thai massage parlors, offering more than a chance to get the knots out of your back, are being targeted - and the crackdown is proving detrimental to the people working there.
The workers at illegal massage parlors are especially at risk because they are rarely given condoms - afraid they'll be used by private investigators as "proof" of a "full service."
Private investigators, tasked with getting "services" from non-compliant sex workers, generally use condoms as "evidence."
The sex industry is particularly confusing in Australia because the law changes from state to state. While it is not illegal to pay for sex anywhere in Australia, each state regulates it differently. For example, in New South Wales street walking is legal in regulated zones, but it is illegal in every other state. Similarly, brothels are illegal in the Northern Territory but are regulated in many other parts of the country.
Because of the varied laws, crackdowns on illegal brothels and massage parlors is an inherently sticky business.
- 'It's OK, it's for money'
The hidden sex culture of Australia's Thai massage industry isn't always something the workers immediately embrace.
A report by SBS Radio Thai, set to air on Viceland's The Feed, found that a number of Thai women fall into the "extra service" side of massage after being enticed by the extra money.
"I came to Australia to expand my opportunities in life. I want to save more money here in order to set up a business back in Thailand," Joy, a 30-year-old Thai masseuse, told SBS.
Joy, whose name has been changed to hide her identity, started out as a legitimate masseuse but found the temptation for extra money was too strong. She can now make up to $1,300 cash a week, for five days of work.
"The first time I offered to use my hands, I was scared and panicked because I had never done it before. I asked myself 'why do I have to do this?' But at the same time, I told myself, 'it's OK, for money, for money,'" she told the program.
Joy, who offers to use her hands for "extras" for as little as $15, said "full service" generally costs $120, but it's up to the worker to negotiate the price.
She also said most people do the job "of their own free will" but not out of want. They do it for the money.
"She offered to have full sex and the client secretly took off the condom. She cried and didn't know what to do. The client didn't care about her at all," Joy told SBS in regards to a friend she knows that has been abused.
- 'Lack of will"
"Rub and tug parlors," as those in the sex industry call them, have a notorious pop-up reputation, meaning no matter how many times the police close them down, they'll just keep popping up.
The Gold Coast, the center of the state of Queensland's party and night-life scene, has one of the highest numbers of illegal massage parlors in Australia.
One of the last big citywide raids on the illegal sex trade was in 2014 when police raided 50 shops suspected of fronting as therapeutic Asian massage parlors.
"It's particularly difficult because if you walk into council saying, 'I want to open a brothel,' they know you're going to spend months and a fortune in land and environment court."
"So now, council instead tell you, 'It'll be knocked back, so apply to be a massage parlor instead.' Then an old lady or someone finds out and complains and then the same council worker that was giving you that unofficial tip is turning up on your doorstep to close you down," he said.
TWEET YOUR COMMENT