So do you know how to spot one? In the course of SBS Thai Radio' s recent investigations into the hidden sex work culture of the Thai massage industry in Australia, experts revealed that 'dodgy' massage shops are more common than you might think.
Read the full investigation here:. Dr Helen Pringle, Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences at the University of New South Wales and a coordinator of the global research on prostitution says that there are many massage parlours that border on being brothels. Some of these are listed below:. SBS Thai. Shops open until very late hours at night, for example until pm or later, are often a red flag.
Melbourne massage parlour 'Fire Banana Massage,' which had distinctly covered windows, was shut down in after being declared an illegal brothel by a Moorabbin magistrate Google maps. Open-air massage, Thai-style: Foreign tourists get a foot massage in Bangkok, Thailand side by side in the open air - no privacy here! Getty Images AsiaPac. Some dodgy shops have back doors for clients to access without being noticed, offering very private massage rooms.
Illuminated rear entrance to an actual brothel in Sydney. Getty Images. The shops advertise about their staff using describing their age, appearance, race, and promoting new staff. Tricia Hughes, CEO of Massage Myotherapy which is the Association of Professional Therapists in Australia, says "Some of the other things people should consider if they go in to the shops, is to ask the therapists where they have been trained. Hughes points to the Australian Massage directory or her own website massagemyotherapy.
She says, "if they [clients] ask serious questions of the practitioners if they go into the clinics, if they check on our website on our directory, they are going to have more confidence in their therapists they are going to see. Professional massage therapists are aware that being naked can make both the client and the masseuse feel uneasy. So to make the clients be able to relax, asking them to keep the underwear on is better for everyone.
