“Most of those who look down on people who sell their bodies look up to those who sell their souls.”
Prostitution in Taiwan operates with relative ease under the guise of KTV bars, barber shops, hotels, massage parlors, and saunas.
Local prostitutes often work in high-end establishments, while lower end establishments are usually staffed with runaway Veitnamese brides. The organaziatons that run these businesses are often considered 'white hat' mafia. These are the mafia groups that pay tax, pay off police, and operate within the law despite running illegal busineses.
Like most illegal businsses in Taiwan, police are privy to what's going on, but as long as the payments and tax revenue keep flowing in they'll turn a blind eye. They'll occassionally conduct raids, but these are only done to check for more serious things like illegal immigration and drugs.
Types Of Brothels In Taiwan
1) KTV Bars: Customers pay to sit and drink with women and can negotiate further services. Expect extremely high prices for drinks and arbitrary fees tacked onto bills. Failure to pay will likely result in being locked in or a baseball bat to the face.
2) Barber Shops: Customers go into a private room with a barber chair and are joined by a lovely lady who is there to offer 'company' for an allotted amount of time. What happens during that time and for how much is up for negotiation. The quality of these places can range from scary to amazing.
3) Hotels: These types of hotels are easy to confuse with legit ones, but once inside the receptionist will inform customers of the types of services they offer. The process is simple. They send in a girl. You decide 'yes' or 'next.'
4) Massage Parlors: You can usually distinguish these types of spas from regular ones by noticing pictures of Vietnamese women on the signs and/or and opaque windows up front. These places vary in how much 'extra' one can get. Some simply offer the rub and tug while others allow more.
5) Saunas: Everything seems legit and the insides are covered in gorgeous marble. There are showers, hot tubs, cold tubs, and lounging areas, but every once in a while a lady will approach you asking if you'd like to visit the other area for a hefty fee. This is where it all goes down and then you pay on your way out.
Red Light Districts In Taipei
1) Longshan Temple: This is the original and oldest red light district in the city. There's a place famously called 'Happy Street' where you actually see street walkers. The area is littered with massage parlors and KTV bars. Police visit the area with more and more frequency and occasionally make full-scale busts, but day-to-day things go on as normal.
2) Lin Sen North Road: This spot mainly catered to Japanese and American tourists, many of the bars are still only Japanese-speaking. However this area has been cleaned up over the years and is becoming more and more just a drinking destination for Japanese businessmen.
3) Zhongshan District: This is perhaps the most popular and normalized red light area of Taipei. There are all sorts of establishments here and it continues to be an area of high foot traffic and commerce. Police regularly take bribes from local mafia groups that have their hands in all sorts of local businesses.
4) Raohe Night Market: There are quite a few massage parlors near Raohe Night Market and Songshan MRT Station. This was a major hub for the city in the past so naturally people moving in and out had certain needs that had to be met. However the industry in this area seems to be dying and many of the parlors are staffed with older women.
My Thoughts
If it's legal to marry somebody for money, why isn't it legal to fuck them for money? I don't think that prostitution is wrong, but the circumstances in which many enter into this trade are often wrong and unfair.
I understand why it's illegal in Taiwan and I think that the way people handle it here sort of works out. The police and the people in the sex trade have a sort of agreement to each respect each other's duty and needs.
Obviously this is a very complicated issue, but to those who want to ciriticze me for writing about this, please do me a favor and get off your fake moral high horse.