“I hire a man to marry me so that I can get a visa to move into Germany.”
Thai massage owner in Germany (51 years old)
The person I interviewed is actually my relative, who owns a massage parlour in Germany. Previously, I only knew this much because I had never asked for any details. When I started working on this project, she was the first person I thought of, so I reached out to her to ask for information about Thai massage parlous in Germany. Normally, we talk quite often, about once a week, or if we’re both busy, about once a month, because her son lives with me in Thailand. However, for this interview, we talked for about two hours, and here are the key points I summarized from our entire conversation.
- She had previously tried working in Japan and Singapore. While working in Japan, she entered with a tourist visa back when Thai citizens still needed visas to enter Japan (which is no longer required today). She worked for about six months at a restaurant and also drove women to work at karaoke bars before being arrested and imprisoned for about a week or until there was a flight back to Thailand, at which point she was deported.
- Eventually, she decided to pay for a marriage arrangement with a German citizen, choosing someone from Thailand because she had connections in Germany who helped find a partner. The cost at that time was 500,000 Thai Baht (which around 11,364 GBP.)
- The only reason she chose to work abroad was to ensure a better future for her son.
- Her first job in Germany was opening her own restaurant, but she had to close it due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- She then returned to Thailand to study massage and obtained a professional license. Upon returning to Germany, she worked as a masseuse at someone else’s massage parlour.
- After saving enough money, she opened her own massage parlor. The reason for opening a massage parlor was that it required less investment compared to a restaurant, and the investment was a one-time expense.
- She tries to hire Thai masseuses who have legal work visas and experience (mostly those who have obtained visas through marriage). From her experience, when hiring people without experience and sending them to study massage, they often leave or quit after completing their training.
- She frequently receives calls from customers asking if the parlor offers happy endings. In Germany, 3 out of 5 massage parlors often offer sexual services. A key indicator is how the masseuses dress and their general appearance (this information comes from customers who ask about such services in her parlor).
- The police are aware of the hidden sexual services and sometimes disguise themselves to catch people in the act. In Germany, if someone wants to work in the sex industry, they need to have a special permit that functions like an ID card, and the business itself must declare that it offers sexual services. The tax system for these businesses is different from that of regular establishments.
- Transgender sex workers who have not undergone gender reassignment surgery are in high demand and earn more than female sex workers.