Inside Macau's massage sex trade

[macau-invest]

I recently travelled north to the Mongolian border and south to Guangzhou and Macau, working on separate stories about human trafficking and China’s African population. This postcard is from Macau, where prostitution thrives even as the casinos tank.

MACAU—The hosts at the Chinese sauna — twenty years old, tops, with brush cuts and baggy suits — hand us a laminated menu with peeling corners. A “Taiwan Model Massage” runs for HK $1,914, the most expensive on the list, followed by Korean, Chinese, Mongolian, Vietnamese, and Filipino massages, at varying prices.

“Fifteen percent government tax,” one host tells us, tapping his index finger on the menu. “Hand jobs are cheaper.”

“We want to see the girls first.”

“No problem.”

He escorts us down a short hallway into the dimly-lit sauna, where a few dozen men wrapped in red towels — mostly Chinese with a few foreigners — stand around a peanut-shaped hot tub.

“Wait a minute,” the host says.

A moment later a line of 70-odd women in lingerie is paraded by to the blare of thumping electronic music. Each woman has a number pinned to her bra. The men go wild, hurrying down the line to their preferred girl, with whom they will be given two hours in a private room.

“This is more depressing than I imagined,” Tom Mackenzie, a fellow journalist, whispers in my ear.

We’re in Eighteen Sauna in a hotel in Macau’s old city, witnessing a scene that repeats throughout the Portuguese colony-turned-gambling Mecca, where we visited recently doing the back-end of our story about Mongolian human trafficking. In Macau, we visited several saunas, attended a conference on human trafficking, and accompanied a Mongolian outreach worker to bars and clubs around the city.

Macau is perhaps the most bizarre place I’ve visited in Asia. It’s got none of Las Vegas’ pizazz — no Copperfields, Sigfrieds or Roys, Flamingo Hotels or showgirls — but all of its seediness. In other words, it’s no place to take the family, but if you’re into gambling, Macau is right up your alley. Since its handover to China in 1999, Macau has become the casino capital of Asia. The city attracts more than 30 million visitors per year; more gambling money flows through here than Vegas.

Most visitors come to Macau roll the dice, but a great many come for sex — unlike mainland China, prostitution on the island is legal. Many of the hotels and casinos that dot this former colonial trading post have entire floors dedicated to “saunas” — a polite term for brothels. Google “prostitution Macau” and the first hit is a guide to finding hookers.

Though Macau is in the middle of a serious economic downturn — several massive developments along the Cotai Strip, home to the stunningly tacky Venetian, lay dormant — the sex trade does not seem to be letting up. Signs of it are everywhere, from casino floors to the saunas to the streets.

Many of the women engaged in the trade are not here by choice. According to the U.S. State Department, Macau is a destination for the trafficking of women and girls from the Chinese Mainland, Mongolia, Russia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma and Central Asia, for the purpose of sexual exploitation. They are deceived into voluntarily migrating to Macau and, upon arrival, are passed to local triad groups and forced into sexual servitude through debt bondage, coercion, or force.

“Victims are sometimes confined in massage parlors and illegal but widely tolerated brothels, where they are closely monitored, have their identity documents confiscated, and are forced to work long hours, or are threatened by violence,” the department’s 2008 human trafficking report says.

In one 2007 case, a 15-year-old girl’s tongue was cut out by her captors after she sent text messages pleading for help, according to casework from the Mongolian Gender Equality Center (GEC).

In Macau, we meet Naran Munkhbat, a GEC outreach worker from Ulan Bataar who has spent four months seeking out Mongolian sex workers in Macau and Hong Kong, attempting to gather their stories and, if possible, offer help. Because of fear of violence, most girls will not speak to Naran in the capacity of an NGO worker. She often pretends she’s a prostitute on a visa run from Hong Kong, and sprinkles into her conversations questions about the women’s health and safety.

“Traffickers control everything about the girls. They threaten to call their families and say they’re working as a ’slut’ in Macau. The pimps treat the girls as money making machines and they control them by any means to keep them in debt,” Naran says over noodles and tea in Macau’s old city. She says she worries about her safety when talking to girls in the bars, or for being mistaken as a prostitute at the border.

While in Macau we attended a conference on human trafficking, where several officials spoke about the islands attempts to combat trafficking. In June last year, the Macau government introduced a new human trafficking law, which has given police more powers to arrest and prosecute those involved in the trade. A 24-hour hotline has been set up and seminars have been organized.

But critics say it’s far from enough, and Macau’s police force complains that, despite the new legislation, detectives still lack the proper legal tools to enforce the law. And the travel policy that opened Macau up to mainland tourists in 2003 has made things more difficult, police chief Cho Wei Kwong said at the conference. “The new travel policy has made trafficking much easier,” he lamented.

Out on the street, the trade goes on. At a sauna at the run-down Rua Cantao hotel, the staff, dressed in sweat pants and orange t-shirts, hovers around the three doorways, attempting to bait customers. Inside, music blares, steam rises from a small hot tub in the centre, and 20 girls are told to line up for us in a single row. The girls bow when we enter. They look drained and withdrawn.

Outside and out of sight, Naran puffs on a menthol cigarette. “It’s like this all over the city,” she says. “We don’t know exactly how many of these girls are here of their own choice, but if there are any, they’re in the minority.”

Photo (magazines) by James Wasserman. Photo (Macau old city) by Mitch Moxley. Read the full story at www.scmp.com.

[isandy]

Thanks for the info.

What a sad experience!

[Gwo Loo Waan]

Very nice article from SCMP. clap clap clap (I think every single year they publish one similar article about the prostitution in Macau - maybe there is no prostitution in Hong Kong, who knows!?!).
Let's be honest, they love to write those dramatic reports about the worst of Macau, and you can always find passion and fervour in those reports.
If you don’t know Macau, after reading this elegiac and well-written article, you will think that Macau is (just) a giant “whore-house”. It’s a shame they forgot to mention that the biggest investors and costumers of this nasty market are the Hong Kong people, exactly their readers…

Ups…

[FourSeasons]

Originally Posted by Gwo Loo Waan

Let's be honest, they love to write those dramatic reports about the worst of Macau, and you can always find passion and fervour in those reports.
If you don’t know Macau, after reading this elegiac and well-written article, you will think that Macau is (just) a giant “whore-house”. It’s a shame …

Surprise!!! I finally agree with something you write...The writer obviously just want to paint the ugly side of Macau without any balancing act. Unfortunately, typical of western journalism on this part of the world.

[Gwo Loo Waan]

Originally Posted by FourSeasons

Surprise!!! I finally agree with something you write...

We had to agree one day in one matter, hadn't we?

[macau-invest]

at least admit it is disgusting.......no matter where china, hong kong, europe

[macau-invest]

Furthermore what is more dissappointing is that Macau (and Zhuhai) are places where men especially go for sex, they are sex tourism spots comparable like Thailand whereas other cities have less these kinds of tourists who come especially for the sex.

[FourSeasons]

Originally Posted by macau-invest

at least admit it is disgusting.......no matter where china, hong kong, europe

Legal prostitution is not disgusting but trafficking of women and forced prostitution is dammed disgusting.

[FourSeasons]

Originally Posted by macau-invest

Furthermore what is more dissappointing is that Macau (and Zhuhai) are places where men especially go for sex, they are sex tourism spots comparable like Thailand whereas other cities have less these kinds of tourists who come especially for the sex.

It is not a secret that prostitution is legal in Macau and indeed there are many men who go there for sex. But if it is not human trafficking and forced prostitution, why take the moral high ground? Prostitution is perhaps the oldest profession in human history; I would argue it exist everywhere in the world, even in Europe (just look at Amsterdam) and USA. I would argue it is better to have it in legal way than to push it underground to make it illegal which will contribute to more illegal social problems.

I am just not very convinced human trafficking exist in Macau, like the way the writer portrayed. I know Macau has laws against human trafficking. He portrays Macau like a third world sex city with no legal enforcement, and there is nothing in his article to verify what he wrote. To most who have live or travel to Macau, that is simply non-sense. If human trafficking exist, why would the government or the triad accept a conference on such issue be held in Macau? Why would the business owners take a chance on human trafficking when legal prostitution is allowed?

[macau-invest]

the prostitution I understand but its the forced prostition that shockes me the most. Still, Macau is a couple of square km, it must have one of the highest hookers per capita in the world. Nothing to be proud about, other places such as Amsterdam are more liberal and tolerant societies over the whole line.
The Macanese seems to be closed to immigration, developement and especially against anybody how goes against their misplaced proudness.

[FourSeasons]

Originally Posted by macau-invest

Nothing to be proud about, other places such as Amsterdam are more liberal and tolerant societies over the whole line.

I don't think the Dutch is such a tolerant society. Have you heard of right wing politician Geert Wilders?

Originally Posted by macau-invest

The Macanese seems to be closed to immigration, developement and especially against anybody how goes against their misplaced proudness.

I don't think Macau is closed to immigration. First, there is PR scheme with annual 2,000 applicants accepted. Second, there are many expatriates living there. There are certainly lots of foreign investments here to say it is closed to development.

[macau-invest]

Geert wilders is far right politician just like you have far left politicians in a democracy.

Geert Wilders has become more popular after the schooting of Theo Van Gogh by a muslim. He was shot in the middle of the street during the day by a young muslim who was insulted by a film made by Van Gogh over the Koran.
After he got killed, the schooter put an extra bullets in his head.

In general the Dutch are very relax and open



I just want to point out with some of my comments that I hear from many of my Chinese friends in Zhuhai and my expat renters in Macau that the Macanese feel they are better than others and look down on foreigners and Chinese. The arrogance about the greatness of their city, paradise on earth, does not come only from Gwo Loo Waan but others I have met as well.
I just do not understand where it comes, being a European you should be proud about your country but at the same be critical about your country as there are always things you can improve.

[one grantai]

I believe there are forced prostitutions around, this is the same everywhere where there is prostitution (In fact in every trade, there are people who are "forced" to do what they rather not to).

But to say most of sex traders are forced, I totally disagree.

Insider information suggests that most Prostitutes are brought to Macau by agents, they pay the agent a fee, the agents have contacts with the brothals, income make by the prostitutes are spite between the agent and the girl until the agreed fee is fully paid. (what is important here is the fee is usually agreed in mojority of the cases, so the word forced I believe is very much misused).

The girls usually share a flat with with other fellow traders, (again choosing their own flats, going to and from work by taxi as a free woman). because of the sort of income they make, can usually afford one bedroom each - a lot other import labours can only afford a dozen also people cramped into one flat.

Now the catch is when they enter work, contractually they agree to work certain hours and certain number of days, or else they will be fined. Most girls are happy to work the long hours as agreed without much holidays because the more they work, the quicker they pay off the fees, the sooner they can earn enough money to go home, which why they are here in the first instance, make money a lot more than what they can make bake home. In situations where girls then become unhappy with the fees they agreed on or are required to work long hours thus get very tired, then the whole thing can sound as though the situation is forced.

The fact is the girls can go and come as they want anytime as long as the agreed fee is fully paid, (personally I don't have a big problem with that, it sounds the same as most things we do in life).

Finally, just remember almost all of the gils enter Macau legally and remain legal in Macau throughout their career there. So the idea that they are forced slaves who are kept in dark cellers all day long simply don't cut it.

Macau invest, maybe to get the correct picture, next time when you visit another one, ask your host directly on whether she is forced or free willing to be serving you. Don't just talk to the ones who become so unhappy about the situations and "enscape", and talk to the social workers.

If you are still not convinced, then amybe you should trust human nature and your own instinct, remember there are a lot of prostitutes in Macau applying theirs trades in various venues, if most girls working in a brothal are forcedas you suggested, they are not going to be happy workers, provide a lousy service or don't get pick at all, words will get round very quickly and customers will disappear (like yourself if you know you would get loucy service in a joint, you will go somewhere else right? remember this is not a monopoly).

[HereAndThere]

A timely subject..

Security police get tough on prostitution
Tuesday, 17 March 2009

The Public Security Police (PSP) conducted nearly 330 operations last year to crack down on illegal prostitution-related activities in Macau, said the chief of the security secretary's office.
In response to a query from lawmaker Leong On Kei, Vong Chun Fat said that the police force had been "very concerned" about prostitution-related crimes and had strengthened its efforts to control the situation in recent years, by carrying out raids within the community.

Full article at;
http://www.macaudailytimesnews.com/i...4267&Itemid=28


What's a typical Macau prostitute's profile? She's over 30, has little academic or professional qualifications and is therefore very vulnerable to the law.
The study also shows that two thirds are in their 30's, 80 percent work an average of nine hours a day, and half are available 24 hours a day. For this, 73 percent earn less than 100 patacas a day.
The study's conclusions were presented in a meeting promoted by the Chi Tang association, a branch of the Hong Kong based ONG, Zi Tenge. ... "most of the women that prostitute themselves in Macau - around 2,500, are recruited in mainland China to work in hotels, saunas, bars and nightclubs". She added that, "Only a few residents opt for prostitution. The local prostitutes come from Sichuan, Hunan and Hubei.

Full article at:
http://www.macaubusiness.com/index.php?id=1061

[one grantai]

Vow, how amusing is this study, most of the prostitutes in Macau are over 30 and earn less than 100 pataca a day.

The problem is, as it is published by apparently sources of the well informed and is well written, thus it would be believed, like all the stock analysts are to be believed.

The fact is that I doubt anyone who might have paid for the services of a prostitute in Macau would have such services provided by any one over 25, never mind 30. Maybe the study should focus on the real world by conducting studies of all HK customers and majority of the service provider, rather than conducting a study base on a possibly minority and then publish as though it is the majority.

[HereAndThere]

I agree - I think the situation is very under-stated by official sources.

[hkskyline]

Are people so easily persuaded by one particular article on one side of the story though? I hope the average populace has not turned so stupid.

On the other hand, it is not at all surprising prostitution exists in a gambling haven. There are a lot of underworld activities hanging alongside these legitimate casinos.

[Chilean00]

Originally Posted by macau-invest

I recently travelled north to the Mongolian border and south to Guangzhou and Macau, working on separate stories about human trafficking and China’s African population. This postcard is from Macau, where prostitution thrives even as the casinos tank.

MACAU—The hosts at the Chinese sauna — twenty years old, tops, with brush cuts and baggy suits — hand us a laminated menu with peeling corners. A “Taiwan Model Massage” runs for HK $1,914, the most expensive on the list, followed by Korean, Chinese, Mongolian, Vietnamese, and Filipino massages, at varying prices.

“Fifteen percent government tax,” one host tells us, tapping his index finger on the menu. “Hand jobs are cheaper.”

“We want to see the girls first.”

“No problem.”

He escorts us down a short hallway into the dimly-lit sauna, where a few dozen men wrapped in red towels — mostly Chinese with a few foreigners — stand around a peanut-shaped hot tub.

“Wait a minute,” the host says.

A moment later a line of 70-odd women in lingerie is paraded by to the blare of thumping electronic music. Each woman has a number pinned to her bra. The men go wild, hurrying down the line to their preferred girl, with whom they will be given two hours in a private room.

“This is more depressing than I imagined,” Tom Mackenzie, a fellow journalist, whispers in my ear.

We’re in Eighteen Sauna in a hotel in Macau’s old city, witnessing a scene that repeats throughout the Portuguese colony-turned-gambling Mecca, where we visited recently doing the back-end of our story about Mongolian human trafficking. In Macau, we visited several saunas, attended a conference on human trafficking, and accompanied a Mongolian outreach worker to bars and clubs around the city.

Macau is perhaps the most bizarre place I’ve visited in Asia. It’s got none of Las Vegas’ pizazz — no Copperfields, Sigfrieds or Roys, Flamingo Hotels or showgirls — but all of its seediness. In other words, it’s no place to take the family, but if you’re into gambling, Macau is right up your alley. Since its handover to China in 1999, Macau has become the casino capital of Asia. The city attracts more than 30 million visitors per year; more gambling money flows through here than Vegas.

Most visitors come to Macau roll the dice, but a great many come for sex — unlike mainland China, prostitution on the island is legal. Many of the hotels and casinos that dot this former colonial trading post have entire floors dedicated to “saunas” — a polite term for brothels. Google “prostitution Macau” and the first hit is a guide to finding hookers.

Though Macau is in the middle of a serious economic downturn — several massive developments along the Cotai Strip, home to the stunningly tacky Venetian, lay dormant — the sex trade does not seem to be letting up. Signs of it are everywhere, from casino floors to the saunas to the streets.

Many of the women engaged in the trade are not here by choice. According to the U.S. State Department, Macau is a destination for the trafficking of women and girls from the Chinese Mainland, Mongolia, Russia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma and Central Asia, for the purpose of sexual exploitation. They are deceived into voluntarily migrating to Macau and, upon arrival, are passed to local triad groups and forced into sexual servitude through debt bondage, coercion, or force.

“Victims are sometimes confined in massage parlors and illegal but widely tolerated brothels, where they are closely monitored, have their identity documents confiscated, and are forced to work long hours, or are threatened by violence,” the department’s 2008 human trafficking report says.

In one 2007 case, a 15-year-old girl’s tongue was cut out by her captors after she sent text messages pleading for help, according to casework from the Mongolian Gender Equality Center (GEC).

In Macau, we meet Naran Munkhbat, a GEC outreach worker from Ulan Bataar who has spent four months seeking out Mongolian sex workers in Macau and Hong Kong, attempting to gather their stories and, if possible, offer help. Because of fear of violence, most girls will not speak to Naran in the capacity of an NGO worker. She often pretends she’s a prostitute on a visa run from Hong Kong, and sprinkles into her conversations questions about the women’s health and safety.

“Traffickers control everything about the girls. They threaten to call their families and say they’re working as a ’slut’ in Macau. The pimps treat the girls as money making machines and they control them by any means to keep them in debt,” Naran says over noodles and tea in Macau’s old city. She says she worries about her safety when talking to girls in the bars, or for being mistaken as a prostitute at the border.

While in Macau we attended a conference on human trafficking, where several officials spoke about the islands attempts to combat trafficking. In June last year, the Macau government introduced a new human trafficking law, which has given police more powers to arrest and prosecute those involved in the trade. A 24-hour hotline has been set up and seminars have been organized.

But critics say it’s far from enough, and Macau’s police force complains that, despite the new legislation, detectives still lack the proper legal tools to enforce the law. And the travel policy that opened Macau up to mainland tourists in 2003 has made things more difficult, police chief Cho Wei Kwong said at the conference. “The new travel policy has made trafficking much easier,” he lamented.

Out on the street, the trade goes on. At a sauna at the run-down Rua Cantao hotel, the staff, dressed in sweat pants and orange t-shirts, hovers around the three doorways, attempting to bait customers. Inside, music blares, steam rises from a small hot tub in the centre, and 20 girls are told to line up for us in a single row. The girls bow when we enter. They look drained and withdrawn.

Outside and out of sight, Naran puffs on a menthol cigarette. “It’s like this all over the city,” she says. “We don’t know exactly how many of these girls are here of their own choice, but if there are any, they’re in the minority.”

Photo (magazines) by James Wasserman. Photo (Macau old city) by Mitch Moxley. Read the full story at www.scmp.com.

very informative

[macau gambler]

I agree that macau still has many "seedy massage parlors" but what about wanchai in hong kong ? Also I believe that with the new MGM, Venetian, Wynn and Crown casinos the image of Macau is improving rapidly. Check out any of the above places and you will be pleasantly surprised. Especially in the Venetian you see many families enjoying themselves taking in the sights. For golfers the Macau Country Club is a must see and play golf course.

[Fernando_Gomes]

I'll admit i've visited Macau saunas/night clubs many, many times over the years. I was born there and although I no longer live there, I would say only 50% of the article is accurate. I'm of Portugese descent but speak fluent mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, vietnnamese and Thai so I do converse with many of the ladies in the saunas. From my experience from what the girls tell me although this may not be their chosen career path a majority of them, dare I say it, are actually happy to do this kinda job as the money is good. The reported 100MOP a day earnings is absolute bullsh*t. I know girls who were earning up to $1000 USD a day. I've met dozens upon dozens of girls from these establishments over the years and i've never heard one horror story this very biased article seems to direct everyone towards.

I'm not saying the sex trade is free from shady characters and dealings, of course it's triad run and inevitably bad things will happen along the way. I just wish the sex trade wasn't such a taboo...if laws on the sale of sex were more relaxed, the industry was more monitored with proper legislation enforced then alot of these joints wouldn;t be forced underground and people involved in the trade wouldn't be getting away with murder(literally in some cases).