Influx from Hongkong any impact on service provision?

[timelord]

Curious if anecdotally anyone has noticed any change in availability / quality of service providers of chinese origin in the last couple of years? I used to quite regularly see such providers in the past but a decade or so ago gradually stopped as the ratio of young to older providers skewed significantly to the older end of the spectrum around then.

[ragout]

I think you are right, certainly more massage places, lots more Chinese, and quite a few Thai, and recently there seem to be more Chinese sex ads on Vivastreet, all charging the same (60/100) owo charge the same, as you say, coincidence or?????

[southcoastpunter]

round my area (borders between the west of our SE and east of our SW regions) there are less Chinese massage shops than there used to be before Covid. probably more Chinese on VS and elsewhere but the number of Chinese massage shops is less!

Service quality has always been variable so probably imo no significant change there

[timelord]

Yes the number of viva street ads advertising thai/japanese/chines ladies has me tempted (even though I know all the pics are fake) to try my luck again with these as massage shop prices are pushing my limits and standard in-call providers of decent quality seem to be visiting my area less frequently

[PunterKit]

Two new Chinese massage places in my SE town over the last year. I've not been so no idea if they offer 'extras'.

[scutty brown]

Two new Chinese massage places in my SE town over the last year. I've not been so no idea if they offer 'extras'.

Why not try them both and see what happens? Would be a good way to start your review history

[scutty brown]

What you have to remember is that there has been a semi-organised push by chinese criminal gangs into more and more of the UK sex trade.
It's an easy route for them to launder money - a massage shop can be a front to disguise takings from drugs, people smuggling and other criminality, just needs the accounts to overdeclare the takings and the real source of the money is hidden.
It fits as well in that there is a lot of property in chinese hands that can be readily used: many takeaway shops have upstairs flats which can be easily converted, or in many cases the shops themselves can be reoriented (as can TCM shops).
This was first picked up by the authorities around 5-6 years ago and it is increasing rapidly. As larger city centres become saturated then new shops appear in smaller and smaller provincial towns.

[Private Member]

What you have to remember is that there has been a semi-organised push by chinese criminal gangs into more and more of the UK sex trade.
It's an easy route for them to launder money - a massage shop can be a front to disguise takings from drugs, people smuggling and other criminality, just needs the accounts to overdeclare the takings and the real source of the money is hidden.

Spot on SB. Any cash business is an ideal front for money laundering. Other examples include Nail Bars and Car Washes (the type where a team of workers turn your car around in a few minutes)

[andy172]

Spot on SB. Any cash business is an ideal front for money laundering. Other examples include Nail Bars and Car Washes (the type where a team of workers turn your car around in a few minutes)

And Turkish Barbers (although not many Turks running them) considering the number that seem to be popping up in every town I visit!

[scutty brown]

And Turkish Barbers (although not many Turks running them) considering the number that seem to be popping up in every town I visit!

I wonder how many are really Albanian/Romanian barbers?