At large massage parlors in Ho Chi Minh City, masseuses, or "massage girls” as they are commonly known to the clientele, often work 12 hours a day and rent houses by themselves. In the neighboring provinces of Dong Nai and Binh Duong, these young women are required to stay on the premise, day and night, "fed and caged” in cramped rooms.
Inside the four tall walls with barbed wires on top, food and daily necessities and other services are provided by the owners at exorbitant prices.

On our first working day at the parlor TN in Binh Duong, a male manager named Hung took us along a long and narrow corridor to a room in the back.

It is a dimly-lit room of around 30 square meters for nearly 40 young female masseuses of the parlor. Here is the place for them to eat, sleep and entertain themselves.

Several girls in blue uniform were sitting on the floor, their backs hunched over their dinner. Some carefully made-up faces turned to look at us indifferently. In one corner, blankets and mats were put together in a messy pile. Dozens of baskets containing soap, shampoo, and medicated oil were placed next to one another.

As part of the verbal agreement with the owner, I would work for him without salary and in return would be given free food and accommodation.

But as I soon found out, I had to pay the owner VND100,000 (US$5) a week for the two meals he provided a day at 9:00 and 17:00.

Routine dishes are rice, and soup and braised fish.

That day, several young girls looked at the dishes placed before them and shook their heads in protest, "It’s fish again, always fish.”

Nga, a team leader sitting next to them, glared and shouted them down, "Stop complaining, you want good food? Order and pay for your own food.”

To order some food through the owner’s relatives, employees have to pay a much higher price than they would normally pay outside.

A young girl gave me her advice, "Should you be permitted to go out, buy all the necessities you need for a long period of time, otherwise the owner will charge you an exorbitant price every time you want to buy something from outside.”

"I’ve just paid VND150,000 for a lipstick that is worth only VND100,000,” she added.

Work usually finished at 2:00 in the morning and all the girls, called "massage technicians” by the owner, join hands to clean up the massage rooms for the next day and then clean their sleeping quarters.

There is not enough room for all the forty of them to get a comfortable sleep in a small room; many take their pillows and blankets outside to sleep on the corridor.

At another massage parlor with ten massage rooms but hiring only four masseuses, the owner forces her employees to work around the clock.

"If the police come to investigate, just say you work here 8 hours a day,” she told us.

Most parlors let the masseuses know they have more customers waiting for their services and need to finish their work quickly by having the manager stand outside the glass door and snap his fingers.

Buying a ticket, a customer can be ‘served’ up to 45 or 60 minutes but skillful masseuses can make male customers "satisfied” within 10 minutes or more.

Within an hour, a young and nice-looking girl Thi received three men and got VND500,000 in tips.

"It’s mainly to make erotic massage by hand or to provide a mouth job here. I know it’s shameful, but I have to put up with it because the money is good,” Thi said.

Despite poor living conditions and the shame and exploitation from the owners, most young girls from poor and remote provinces are willing to accept the job, knowing they can earn as much as VND30 million (US$1,500) a month – ten or fifteen times more than the salary of an untrained factory worker.

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Masseuses relax themselves during free time in their room in different ways: lying on the floor, making-up, sending mesages to beloved ones, or chatting one another (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Exploitation

At the massage parlor L on Su Van Hanh Street in Ho Chi Minh City, the owner named Thu asked a new employee to sign a contract with a salary rate of VND40,000 a day.

In reality, the women working there receive nothing except tips from the clients and even have to pay for many things like uniform, food, room, and fake certificates.

"The salary mentioned in the contract is just to make it appear legal to the authorities,” Thu explained.

At the massage parlor B, the owner signed a contract with me, agreeing to hire me for seven days only (to avoid paying taxes), working eight hours a day, for VND1.7 million.

It turned out that not only did I receive no salary from her but have to give her a cut of VND40,000 for each customer I served.

At the parlor L, a new employee pays the employer VND50,000 a day and an experienced masseuse pays VND1 million a month.

In addition, an employee also pays VND400,000 for laundry costs, another VND300,000 to the cashier, and VND600,000 for instant noodles (whether she eats it or not).

Dignity is a luxury few massage employees can afford to keep inside these places.

A manager at the TN parlor firmly announced that, "Here we are willing to let 10 masseuses go just to keep a client. You should always remember that, girls.”

As a result, the women swallow up their pride and bury their dignity just to keep their job and to avoid being fined by the owner.

A masseuse has to pay VND1 million in fine should a client complains about her to the manager.

Once a month, they are allowed to leave the premise for six hours. Anyone returning late is fined VND200,000. Anyone leaving the room without turning off the fan is also fined VND200,000.

To apply for a day off, they have to pay a VND1.5 million deposit.

Trang, a worker at the TN parlor, said the conditions have improved recently.

"Previously, we were banned from using mobile phones. Any violation will result in having our phone seized and we have to pay VND1 million if we want to get it back,” she added.

According to Trang, the net income a massage worker earns from her tips is around VND18 million a month, after deductions for all the fines and costs.

Tuoi Tre undercover journalists spent a month penetrating deep inside massage parlors and shed some light in this all-revealing new series on the sex, the pitiable living conditions, the tips, the techniques needed to survive and all the other kaleidoscopes.
work as a masseuse, one needs a license but most, if not to say all, massage parlors fake papers for their massage employees.

Called technicians, the masseuses just have to pay VND1.5-5 million (US$71-239) to get the licenses and certificates required for the massage job.

"We sisters will undertake the legalization for you. Massage certificates are quite easy to buy, looking like true ones even though they are forged,” said Van, owner of massage parlor B on Kha Van Can Street, Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City.

When your journalists pretended to apply for a job as a masseuse at massage parlor TN in the city’s Thu Duc District, Hung, one of its managers, explained the modus operandi is simple.

The parlor would spend VND2 million on each newcomer and collect this sum back by subtracting it from massager’s tips every week.

Our first time

After having our applications accepted and having passed some grueling checks on body statistics and our willingness to work in the industry, we - Tuoi Tre undercover journalists - began to learn the first skills.

No sooner had we put our bags on the floor than Van, the owner, led us to a massage room and told us to touch this and that.

"If you learn well, I’ll let you cater to a client this afternoon”, she promised.

When a girl lay down on the bed, our mentor - Ms. Thanh - started to grope her to show us the sensitive body parts.

Thanh is a young, beautiful girl with just three weeks’ experience.

But Thanh quickly quit after demonstrating some basic massaging techniques.

"I succumb, sister! I can massage but cannot teach”, Thanh said.

The next morning, Van requested Thanh and three other girls to teach us again. Their different pedagogical techniques and massaging styles confused us and we did not know how to do.

"We just learned from our predecessors and improvise,” Thanh announced.

"Here, it’s important to know how to make clients relaxed and it’s okay to do a cursory job”, she advised.

Thanh emphasized the word "relaxed” once or twice. In the Vietnamese massage industry, ‘relax’ means a hand or mouth job.

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Newly recruited masseuses stand in the corridor and stealingly look into the room to learn 'techniques' from their peers (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Voyeur first, practice later

Meanwhile, new employees at massage parlor TN had to learn erotic massage first. To learn it, they are requested to secretly stand outside a massage room to sneak at a technician ‘serving’ the client.

At this parlor, we were told by a manager named Ngan to wait in front of a massage room at 10 a.m.

Through a glass on the door we saw a man lying comfortably in the bath tub and being meticulously washed from head to foot by a scantily-clad masseuse.

Suddenly, the customer looked at the door, spotted us and grumbled some words. We were ordered to retreat right away.

Later that night, we were sent to the ‘classroom’ again. We were panicked upon seeing a technician performing oral sex on a fat client.

Showing approval, Ngoc glared at us and raised her head asking: "accept that and I’ll let people teach you how to massage.”

Ngoc revealed that she wanted newcomers to see the prostitution acts first since many used to come there to learn massaging but quit after refusing to ‘relax’ customers.

"Willingness to relax customers is of crucial importance, massaging techniques are nothing,” she pointed out.

At another massage parlor named L. on Su Van Hanh St., District 5, HCMC, manager Thu looked me up and down and said I needed a certificate.

She offered to obtain it for me in return for VND2.5 million.

Two days after handing Thu a copy of my ID, passport-sized photo, and settling the fee, I received the certificate with my name on it, issued by a medical school in Dong Nai Province.

The license says that I completed a massage therapy course lasting between September 5 and November 5 of 2008.

In addition, I also received a healthcare book issued by a hospital in HCM City. It has details about blood test, HIV test and health conditions and carries a vague red seal.

According to Thu, all the papers are authentic. She also said she needed more ‘technicians’ and asked me if I had any friend to introduce to her.

Apart from massage parlors, many motorbike taxi drivers and brokers were also ready to sell massage certificates. Loc, a motorbike taxi driver in HCMC’s Tan Binh District, said the cost of producing a massage certificate is only VND1.2 million but its market price fetches VND1.5-2.5 million. The balance goes to brokers.

"They are often called fake certificates but in fact, the certificate and the seal are 100 percent authentic”, Loc told Tuoi Tre.

(to be continued)

COMMENTS:
Ladies and Gentlemen, There should be no surprises because this kind of "services" is very popular in HCM City (SaiGon) and through out the country. You can find "massage" in hotels and massage places from North to South. The tip for those ladies who perform the services may vary depend on your negotiation skill. But most of the time the standard fees between 250k VND to 500k VND. It's also depend on which place that you go to. Most of places now offer and perform "mouth job" and some also offer "full services" if the price is right. You can purchase all kind of licenses in VN (nail, massage, hair, . . . and more). This is sad but also true. You can also purchase PhD degrees, Master Degrees, and any degree in education from the "people" there.
Written by Tuoi Tre VN , 25 October 2011 03:02

The series is one of the first in depth articles about the massage industry that I have ever read. Great writing and story. It should be submitted for international recognition.
Written by Linh , 17 July 2011 21:55

Can Tuoitrenews provide me with a complete list of massage places? What is the average tip? I was many times expected to give 500,000 VND for a mechanical massage (know what i mean?) Great story
Written by Thomas , 9 July 2011 15:10

It sounds very wrong listening to a man narrate this article, a woman would have been more fitting. His voice also sounds irritating.
Written by C. Blank , 8 July 2011 10:02

I want to go there. The girl without bra in the first picture is cute. Where is she working, any one here knows?
Written by anonymous , 5 July 2011 19:47

Though she didn’t win the highest prize at a painting contest for children in Hanoi, Vu Dang Anh Tho, 10, has drawn major attention due to her painting that satirizes people’s habit of public urination.

Titled "Cam Dai Bay” (Public Urination Banned), the painting was among 2,000 works participating in the "Ve Sinh Yeu Nuoc” (Keeping the environment clean is loving your country) competition.

The work depicts three adult men who are smoking and urinating on a wall, on which hangs a board stating, "Urination Banned Here.” Next to them, a little kid points his fingers at the men and says innocently, "Ah! Adults are urinating at the wrong places!”

"Cam Dai Bay” won the consolation prize of the contest, which was held by the Department of Environment Management under the Ministry of Health. There were 50 paintings that received awards at the concluding ceremony on July 29 in the capital city.

Hundreds of young girls Tuesday flocked to Diamond and Parkson malls in downtown Saigon to see Michelle Phan, the Vietnamese-American girl who has become famous for her makeup tutorial videos on Youtube.

The 25-year-old girl, whom numerous girls around the world have chosen as their makeup guru, made a one-day trip to the southern city as part of her worldwide trip as an ambassador for a cosmetic brand. At the meetings with fans at the shopping centers, the girl fascinated the crowd with her gentle beauty and friendliness.

Not only did she take pictures with fans, she also excited them by wearing a conical hat, one of Vietnam’s traditional accessories.

During her trip, besides giving makeup tutorials for girls at the fan meetings, Michelle shared that she had had chances to try Vietnamese dishes such as dau hu da and bun bo.

"Having an awesome moment here. Vietnam you are too good to me,” she expressed in happiness while visiting the country where her parents were born.


On her Facebook page the young makeup expert has received many compliments after she shared a photo showing her in an ao dai.

Photo: Michelle Phan's Facebook page

Born in Massachusetts to Vietnamese parents, Phan studied at Ringling College of Art and Design and Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

She became famous on the video sharing site Youtube after her makeup tutorial video titled "Natural Looking Makeup Tutorial” was posted in 2007. The clip has so far received more than 8 million views.

As of February 2012 Phan had garnered over 585 million views and over 1,900,000 subscribers, making her channel the most subscribed beauty channel on YouTube.

Some of her most popular videos are the "Lady Gaga 'Poker Face Tutorial" with over 30,000,000 video views, and "Lady Gaga Bad Romance Look," with over 25,000,000 views.

She also appeared in many famed magazines such as Seventeen, St. Petersburg Times, NYLON and Forbes.

In 2010, her videos drew attention to French luxury cosmetics brand Lancome, which has since chosen her as its global ambassador. One year later, Michelle launched her personal website, MichellePhan.com, as a place for girls to exchange what they know about beauty, lifestyle, fashion and makeup.

The number of fan members on Michelle Phan’s Facebook page has reached 980,000 so far.

On the night of July 31, Michelle left Vietnam to continue her tour in Australia.
Michelle gives her autograph with a lipstick at the meeting with fans at Parkson Plaza. Photo: Ngoc Dong

VietNamNet Bridge – Beijing is encroaching into the East Sea, with new forces, new strategies and new paths.
At the same time, Beijing is strengthening its action on all fronts, from civil to military, from administrative management to diplomatic to "cover” its vague historical arguments that they always apply to make claims in the East Sea.

From fishing boats…

In the early April, the smoldering dispute in the East Sea broke out into a clash between China and the Philippines at Scarborough Shoal. Manila accused Chinese fishermen of illegally infiltrating and fishing in its waters, which is recognized by the international law. Filipino naval ships managed to catch these fishermen but China sent two marine patrol ships to the area of conflict.

China sent many more vessels to the shoal to confirm its presence in the form of overwhelming in majority. The Philippines detected nearly 100 Chinese ships around and inside the shoal, ignoring the fishing ban in this area.

The two sides decided to withdraw their ships from the shoal, reasoning bad weather. While the Philippines pulled out all of its ships in the shoal, up to 30 Chinese boats were reported to be there, according to a Filipino security official on July 19. The anonymous official said that there were signs that Chinese boats caught fish in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines.

Both sides claim their sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal. China still cites historical evidences to prove its sovereignty over the shoal, the same way it does with other disputes in the East Sea.

Manila said that the shoal is within its EEZ, which is recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS). The shoal is over 230km from this country’s Luzon Island and over 1,200km from China.

If the UNCLOS is used to settle the dispute, China ran out of arguments. Therefore, China denies the value of this convention in solving the dispute, though it joined the convention.

… to war ships

After the clash at the Scarborough shoal, another incident happened at a site which is nearer to the Philippines than Scarborough. A Chinese missile frigate, which was reported by the Chinese media to be on a patrol, was stuck at a shoal that is only 110km from Palawan province of the Philippines. China organized a noisy rescue campaign. The war ship was rescued and returned to China, leaving behind many questions.

Naval officials of the Philippines said this vessel harassed and threatened some Filipino fishing boats last year.

Rory Medcalf, director of the international security program at the Lowy Institute, said that it was alarming that the Chinese were now using naval vessels to patrol the disputed area.

"Does that mean sooner or later we will see confrontational incidents involving naval vessels rather than civilian agencies,” he said on the Philstar.

It is a big question to why China sent a warship of a thousand tons to a hollow and dangerous sea at night, where even fishing boats run very carefully in the day time.

It is understood that China is trying to threaten others and drive them away from an area where China does not make legal claims, but wants to seize.

This is China’s traditional strategy, called "bleeding to death or death of a thousand cuts.” By constantly applying a little pressure on its rivals in the East Sea dispute, China weakens the opposition.

And establishing a city

More rudely, in late June, China approved the establishment of the so-called Sansha City to manage three groups of islands in the East Sea and their surrounding waters.

From constantly applying a little pressure on its rivals in the East Sea dispute, China now set up a city, which has administrative machinery and is accompanied with military force to "protect” the administration amid international waters.

The Philippines and Vietnam raised objections but China keeps building the so-called Sansha city. On July 20, China approved the establishment of a military unit that stations in Sansha. Marine management activities have also been implemented.

The China National Radio has reported that more than 1,100 Chinese voters in 15 constituencies on the Tay Sa, Nam Sa and Trung Sa islands cast ballots on July 21 to elect deputies to their so-called Sansha city municipal people’s council.

These islands belong to Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos, and the act seriously violates Vietnam’s sovereignty over the cluster of islands.

After making the statement of the so-called Sansha city, China sent a fleet of 30 fishing ships to Truong Sa Islands, escorted by its largest fishery administration vessel No. 310.

To support the government’s acts, a propaganda campaign about the so-called China’s sovereignty in the East Sea has been launched. A leading Chinese fishery official has urged Beijing to provide arms and military training for 100,000 fishermen and let them roam the East Sea to defeat countries in the region challenging China’s sweeping claims of sovereignty in those waters.

The Global Times of China recently launched a discussion entitled "If you were the mayor of Sansha, what would you do?” This newspaper emphasized: "On July 17, China set up an organizing committee for the legislative body of Sansha, officially beginning the formation of the government of the newly established city in the South China Sea. As the biggest prefecture-level city in China, Sansha has a unique geography and extraordinary strategic location. Consequently, it needs totally different management methods from other cities."

In 2002, China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC) to solve disputes peacefully. Ten years after that agreement was signed, China wants to change it and it is trying to occupy the entire East Sea.

Thai An