Finnish journalists look into the situation of Thai massage workers

Finnish Yle investigation has examinted the lives of Thai massage parlour workers in cities throughout Finland.

A new report by Yle’s MOT investigative journalism programme has found that many of the Thai women working in massage parlours in Finland sell sex in order to support their families. The report also reveals that help from the authorities has been largely non-existent and limited to preparing reports, according to Yle.

The report shows that most of the parlour workers would prefer to do some other type of work if they had the option or the resources. Some of the Thai women started out by selling massage services to customers, but ended up selling themselves because it was possible to earn an extra 20 or 30 euros.

The majority of the women also had relatives in Thailand, who were dependent on the incomes from Finland.

According to Yle, the Finish interior ministry in 2010 became concerned that the women were selling sex services alongside massage work. A steering committee was set up with the goal of producing a long list of measures to integrate this group of women into Finnish society.
No action on the report has been taken and it is now in the National Archives.

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