Man goes into Chinatown for massage but also gets offered a happy ending

A CHRISTIAN brother with a bad back wanders into Southport’s Chinatown and is taken back with what’s on offer at the massage parlours.

A CHRISTIAN Brother with a bad back wanders into Southport’s Chinatown.

This part of our CBD is very much a work in progress, with a scattering of popular trendy coffee shops but, as yet, very little chicken chow mein on the menu boards.

Take a close look at this section of Southport, opposite the old Town Hall where Gold Coast city Councillor Dawn Crichlow has her office on the bottom floor and Mayor Tom Tate regularly hosts business lunches at the old chambers on the floor above.

From here you can look south, see how the streets dip down off the light rail and swing into the Chinatown precinct, which is an inviting escape from the busy traditional shopping area.

Our Christian brother needs a remedial massage for his back before leaving the city.

THE INFORMER: FAST FOOD, SLOW BURN
SUE LAPPEMAN: COOKING SHOWS DON’T LIVE UP TO THE REAL WORLD
Cr Crichlow takes up the story here because he later confided to her that at the massage’s end the Asian masseuse reached for his “private parts”.

Southport’s Chinatown is slowly building up. Picture Glenn Hampson

“Would you like a happy ending?” she had asked.

Now “happy endings” are supposed to happen in Molendinar or at Bundall, out the back of industrial estates where licensed venues can operate along with registered swingers clubs.

But hobbling around our CBD with a tight hamstring, the real challenge is in picking the right door.

Legitimate health massage services exist in Southport. They are just outnumbered by those offering a little bit more oil for a little bit more dollar.

See that bloke sprinting out the shopfront door not wanting to be recognised? Yes, he’s a well-known accountant. That morning massage was not remedial.

Google “Southport and massage parlours” on your phone and dozens of operators will appear, advertising “pretty South Americans” to your more traditional “brunette bombshell”.

One operator wanting more Asian staff writes: “We Nee You”.

An artist’s impression of Southport's Chinatown gate designs

Cr Crichlow, who in the past week has received complaints about the hours of work and safety of the young women working in these parlours, wants them closed down.

“They are working 12-hour shifts. These are 20-year-olds studying English. The shops are not allowed to advertise for hand relief but they do. They charge $50 for it. The girls get half,” she says.

Police intelligence suggests the sex trade boom began after the first massage parlour opened at Coolangatta on the border.

By November last year, the RAP Squad staged a blitz and found 49 operators along the strip. The girls told police they were unaware they were breaking the law and offering prostitution.

The plan was for the Newman Government to work on new laws that required premises to be registered and staff to have a certificate in remedial massage.

But the LNP had a sad ending in February, and now council and the new Government need to revisit this booming illegal trade.

A political source told your columnist: “It is running rife. You have people flying in from overseas staying at the Marriott and they think they have landed in Thailand”.

Not quite Thailand yet, just around the Chinatown area, in Southport, without the chicken chow mein, and a cranky Cr Crichlow wanting illegal sex operators off the menu.