Thai massage workers 'intimidated' by abuse

The owner of a Thai massage business has said she feels angry, scared, and intimidated by racist abuse, with her staff often being mistaken for sex workers.

Gem Bunngam, who owns Gem Traditional Thai Massage in Worcester, said the business was plagued by prank calls and abuse, particularly by men asking for "happy endings".

Mrs Bunngam says she has lost staff because they cannot cope with the abuse and racist stereotypes.

"Sometimes we don’t want to come to work and I just [think] maybe I’m going to do something else," she said.

Mrs Bunngam said the men harassing her staff and asking for sexual services should be embarrassed about their behaviour

Mrs Bunngam, who is originally from Thailand, has operated the business on Reindeer Court in the city for two-and-a-half years, and has worked in the city for a decade.

She has previously had signs in the window saying the business did not offer "extras", but she said it did nothing to stop men from coming in and harassing her and her staff by asking for sexual services.

"We get calls or comments at least twice a week. It used to be every day, so many phone calls. We're just fed up with it," she said.

"It's normally just men. The majority are men. Men don’t respect women as much as they should.

"These people should feel they’re embarrassing themselves, but sadly [they don't]."

However, Mrs Bunngam said occasionally women would make jokes to their partners as they walked past the shop.

"For us, it's like come on, you are a woman, stick up for each other at least.

"I don’t know why people do that, it’s sad really, really sad."

On a bad day, Mrs Bunngam said she would consider quitting the trade and finding a new job.

"We feel intimidated, we feel frustrated, we feel sad, we feel angry," she said.

"I’m struggling with therapists because no-one wants to come to work because they don’t want to face this kind of thing."

'Devastating impact'

PC Gary Otun, West Mercia Police's Hate Crime Officer for South Worcestershire, said he had seen an upsurge in the number of hate crimes being reported in the area, after recent national events.

Areas with an increase included Evesham, Droitwich, and Malvern.

Mr Otun said: "Tackling hate crime is a priority for West Mercia. We know that on a national and local level, hate crimes are unreported.

"People who are committing hate crimes are targeting people because of who they are and often these victims are some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.

"This can have a devastating impact on the individual and the wider community, so it's a force priority.

"It's something we need to get a grip on and it's something, unfortunately, a lot of victims don't feel they would report to the police."