The owner of a massage parlour in Pattaya is begging sailors visiting from the controversial USS Abraham Lincoln to stop by, saying her employees are ‘starving’ for their custom
The owner of a popular massage parlour in Pattaya has called on ‘wonderful’ and ‘young’ US sailors visiting the area to stop by at her establishment.
The unique call to arms comes after it was reported that around 5,000 servie personell would be spending time in the notorious city, known for its thriving sex tourism industry and high crime rate.
The crew, who arrived in the city yesterday and are due to leave at the end of the week, have been pent up on the USS Abraham Lincoln for a record 265 consecutive days, with the ship’s harsh conditions and apparent shortages making global headlines over recent weeks.
Around 5000 troops are expected to touch down in Pattaya (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
And the sea-weary sailors are catching the eye of Pattaya’s many massage parlours, with one unnamed matron made an appearance on Thai TV channel Amarin.
She called on the sailors to take advantage of her shop’s services rather than just sight-seeing and “sitting in bars”, joking that her employees were “hungry” and “are going to starve” if not.
She said: “It would be great if they did — my staff are going to starve. We’re only getting one or two customers a day. They just walk around sightseeing.”
Some troops were seen eyeing up a snake on the main strip
Unfortunately for the matron and her business, the troops are apparently refraining from splashing the cash on a traditional Pattaya massage for the time being.
She said: “They just walk around sightseeing. They’ve come to travel and shop. A massage takes time, so they don’t want one. It takes an hour, and they’re travelling together in groups of friends. They can’t just leave their friends and go off for a massage”
Were they to employ the parlour’s services, the matron joked that she is worried about whether her employees can handle the “young and fit” sailors, saying: “They’re young and fit . . . If the soldiers did come in, we wouldn’t might not be able to handle them all.”
Pattaya’s massage parlours will be hoping the 5000 troops can bring some extra money in after a difficult year(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
She is even calling on the Pattaya authorities to encourage the troops, saying: ““Tell them to visit all the massage shops and support us. If they did that, every shop would be happy. The masseuses would earn enough money to buy food and support their children and families.”
However, she worries that the “culture” of Western troops means that an increase in patrons remains unlikely, with Americans far less interested in her services than people from other countries.
She explained: ““If Russian and Chinese tourists come, you don’t need to worry — every massage shop in Pattaya will make money. But Westerners tend to prefer going to bars.”
The appeal comes after a difficult year for Pattaya, which has seen a sharp decline in tourist numbers and a 7% loss in money spent by overseas visitors.
By staronline@reachplc.com (Edward Easton)
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