Massage parlour hits back over ‘gross’ sign - news.com.au

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A massage parlour in the affluent Sydney suburb of Mosman has found itself embroiled in controversy over a sign on its window.


La Massage Thai, Remedial and Day Spa, is located on the main drag in the ritzy suburb, and a sign on the window explaining that its services are “non-sexual” has caused an uproar.

A local community member took a photo of the sign, called it “disturbing”, and posted it in the local bustling Facebook group, and it kicked off a considerable debate on whether it was appropriate or not.

Owner Wannisa Piyatrakul told news.com.au that she was left in “shock” when she saw the post.

Ms Piyatrakul said that she’s been in the massage industry for over a decade and was stunned people were offended because it is perfectly normal in her industry to stipulate what kind of massages you can and can’t get.

She said that she’s seen plenty of massage parlours with similar signs in Sydney’s CBD, yet the people of Mosman were “disturbed”.

“It’s very normal, and it’s a normal thing, and I’ve had a business before, and no one said anything,” she explained.

The shocked owner said that the sign existed in the first place because people had come into her parlour and asked for that kind of “special” massage, and naturally, she wanted to ward off creepy men.

“Since I opened the business, many people are asking for special extra work, and we don’t do it,” she said.

She put the sign out the front for everyone to see in an effort to protect her female employees and make them feel “safe”.

“I don’t want people like that to come in, if I put it out front that we don’t have that service, then they don’t walk in, and they don’t waste my time, it’s better,” she said.

It also stops her female employees from having to turn away men seeking sexual gratification and saves them from awkward conversations or feeling uncomfortable.

Ms Piyatrakul said that as a massage parlour, if you don’t state that you don’t offer sexual massages, you end up having to constantly deal with men asking for them, and it often means she’ll miss out on other clients.

She said just the other day, she got a phone call from a man who asked for a happy-ending massage, but he cancelled when he found out that wasn’t something they offer. In the meantime, she could have missed out on a client who wanted a normal massage.

The massage parlour owner said that having to deal with creepy men wasn’t something that didn’t happen in Mosman.

She said it is a “everywhere” issue of Aussie men attending massage parlours with special requests.

“I’ve been in the massage industry for ten years, I don’t know why guys don’t just go to the places that offer, and it’s very annoying,” she said.

Ultimately, though, Ms Piyatrakul wasn’t trying to upset anyone when she put up the sign, and she never wanted to upset locals; after all, she wanted her business to succeed in the million-dollar area where the medium house price is north of $5 million.

“I don’t want to upset people in Mosman because I have a business here; I took the sign down. I didn’t think; I wanted to protect my business and be upfront,” she explained.

She said that she had listened and tried to understand why people were upset, which is why she’d taken the sign down.

“I try to understand. That’s why I take the sign down, and I’ll put something else and make everyone happy,” she said.

She explained she will now change the sign to say they only offer “professional” massages.

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Thankfully she said the business hadn’t been impacted by all the fuss over a simple sign. Still, Ms Piyatrakul wasn’t wrong in wanting to protect her staff, especially when sexual harassment in the massage industry is so rife.

According to a Pulse Survey from 2022 conducted by Massage and Myotherapy Australia, which has over 8600 members, some professional massage therapists experience daily sexual harassment from clients in their workplace.

A shocking 56 per cent of respondents said they were subject to sexual harassment from customers, while 74 per cent indicated they must actively take steps to protect themselves and staff from sexual harassment.

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