Conversation 1

The Post (over the phone): Hello, where are you based?

Female voice: We are based in Panipokhari.

Post: I got your number from TikTok, when you were going live, a while ago.

Lady: You come here, we will give all the details. Where are you right now, anyway?

Post: Lalitpur. Can you give details of the services your parlour provides? It’s raining outside and I can’t come immediately.

Lady: You will have a happy ending. We can’t talk about the real things on the phone but you will get what you want. What exactly do you need?

Post: What’s the cost involved, overall? For services besides body massage?

Lady: (Sound of laughter)...It cost around 3,000. If you come up with Rs5,000, you will have everything including food, drinks and the services you are looking for. I understand. We will provide everything you want.

Post: (With hesitation) Do you allow intimacy? How much does it cost?

Lady: It costs Rs1,200 for massage and Rs2,000 for what you are looking for. You need to pay that amount for an hour’s stay.

Post: How many girls are there with you and what’s their ages?

Lady: Girls of which age are you looking for? How old are you? I am an old lady.

Post : I am in my mid-20s.

Lady : We have girls your age, you can find girls from ages 21 to 30 here, they can fully satisfy you. Today it’s already late, please come tomorrow, we are open till 7:30 pm, starting at 9:30 am.

Conversation 2

Post (over the phone): Hi!

Female voice: Hello Sir! What are you looking for?

Post: I am calling just to inquire about the services your spa provides. I got your number from your official TikTok account.

Lady: (Sounding quite excited) Did you see me going live right now?

Post : Yes. Are you the same lady who was live?

Lady: Yes. Where are you from, Sir?

Post : Thapathali. How many girls do you have? What is the closing time?

Lady: Currently we have four, but if you want we can call more. We are open till 8:30pm. Are you coming now, Sir?

Post: Not today, it’s cold outside and it’s raining too. Can you tell me about the services you provide and the costs?

Lady: If you come with Rs3,000, it would be enough. Rs1,200 for massage, also you will have a happy ending. The massage starts with the usual full-body rubdown but ends with a sex act, usually a hand job or blowjob, for that you will have to pay an extra Rs 1,800.

Conversation: 3

Post (over the phone): Hello, where is your spa, can you give me the location?

Lady’s voice: It’s at Basundhara, Jorpati.

Post : What type of services do you offer?

Lady: We offer a special body massage. It costs Rs1,000 for an hour. Also we offer a sauna and steam bath by girls (depending upon how many girls you want), for which you will need to pay extra. Overall, the cost comes to Rs2,200, but if you come, we can give a Rs200 discount.

Post: What other facilities do you offer?

Lady: We also offer a hand job. Can’t say anything more on the phone, you got to come here.

(She hangs up.)

These are the transcribed voice recordings by a Post reporter who talked to spa operators in different parts of Kathmandu Valley, disguised as a client, on Sunday and Monday. The Post obtained their phone numbers when they were live on TikTok, to invite clients to their parlours located in different parts of the Kathmandu Valley from Chabahil, Sanepa, Old Baneshwar to Chuchchepati.

At present, the trend of massage parlour operators going live on TikTok has caught on. On a livestream, the scribe found that in the videos, Spa operators were going live mostly during the day and less frequently during evening and night, or near their closing time. Out of half a dozen girls the Post contacted, four said they were open to providing intimate services once the massage session was over, while two of them said they can’t give details of sex services over the phone.

Prostitution is illegal in Nepal. When the Post contacted the Anti Human Traffic Bureau to inquire about the issue, officials said they were unaware of the activities.

“If they are themselves offering physical intimacy, the bureau cannot do anything about it,” said Krishna Pangeni, spokesperson for the bureau. He, however, said the bureau will keep track of such cases if someone files a complaint.

Pangeni said that such cases do not come under Human Trafficking and Transportation (Control) Act, 2064. “Section 4 talks about action against the person who forces others into prostitution, but in this case, the women in question are themselves offering the services,” he added.

He said there is no clarity in the Act to address such issues.

It’s only clauses 119 and 120 of the National Penal (Code) Act, 2017 that prohibit soliciting prostitution. The act states that if a person engages in prostitution or involves someone into, they are liable to three years in jail and a fine of up to Rs30,000. Meanwhile, Clause 120 of the Act also states that no person shall knowingly provide his or her house, land or means of transport for the purpose of prostitution or having sexual intercourse with a prostitute.

However, in Kathmandu Valley, many spas or massage centres running the sex business have leased an entire house or a flat for the purpose, but the authorities appear to have ignored the matter.

Pangeni said such issues should be handled by the local police in coordination with the Cyber Bureau. “Since these suspicious activities have been taking place through social media apps, the Cyber Bureau should look into them because it can track those Spas,” he added.

When Post inquired with the Bhotahity-based Cyber Bureau on the Kathmandu spas offering sex services on TikTok, it said there is no law to book such operaters.

“They have just been using the internet as a medium and there is no law to bar them from livestreaming,” said Superintendent of Police Pashupati Kumar Ray, who is also a spokesperson for the bureau.

Ray said there is a lot of confusion over the issue. “But it’s all about human behaviour, the police can’t go everywhere, and such issues should be monitored by the local police.”

He too said these cases are not cyber crimes per se.

Spa operators say just around three dozen of the around 400 spas in Kathmandu Valley are providing ethical services for mental and physical wellness and the rest are involved in illegal activities.

“Many are into shady business,” said Suresh Puri, executive director of Tranquility Spa, the oldest spa that has been in operation since 2011 targeting foreigners and high-end clients and has 11 branches in Kathmandu and Pokhara.

The Post’s investigation uncovered the existence of two spa associations: The Spa and Wellness Association Nepal (with nine members) and the Spa Association of Nepal (21 members).

“We strictly adhere to the guidelines of the association [The Spa and Wellness]. But some of the so-called spa operators that are involved in soliciting clients for prostitution by livestreaming on the internet have defamed those involved in ethical business practices,” said Puri.

The guidelines state that a spa or a massage parlour should have good intent (no unethical activities), and there should be 390 hours of training for the masseur, with 70 percent practical and 30 percent theoretical knowledge.

When the Post contacted Surya Prasad Upadhyaya, the director of the Department of Tourism, to ask who monitors spa and massage centres, he said there are no guidelines and there is no monitoring body either.

“It’s mandatory for star-rated hotels to offer spa, steam bath and other services, but there is no agency or body to monitor them,” he added. “It is about time we had a relevant law and mechanism.”

The Council of Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) , too, provides training in spa and massage.

“We have our own training academy and we have earned the goodwill of our regular customers. But to tame the unscrupulous operators of massage parlours, regulations have become a must,” said Puri.

‘Gender and adolescence: global evidence’ (GAGE) programme's three-year study in Nepal, which was published in 2020, stated that adult entertainment sector work has changed with the increased use of technology, leading to a substantial increase in commercial sex work, and in recent times, TikTok is being increasingly used to advertise prostitution businesses.

GAGE is the largest global study in adolescence following some 20,000 girls and boys in developing countries.

Researchers say that the paradigm of prostitution has drastically changed due to social media. Earlier, most cases of prostitution were connected to Thamel-based massage parlours.

“When we did our research in 2018, women would mainly do prostitution via Emo chat rooms. Now massage operators have taken to TikTok live to solicit clients,” said Anita Ghimire, the GAGE country lead in Nepal.

After the Covid pandemic, spa centres have mushroomed in the Valley, mainly in prime locations.

Ghimire said most of the girls who are in the business and are providing commercial sex through spa business are aged between 14 and 25 years and mostly come from broken families. Once they have children, many stop indulging in the world’s oldest profession. The old prostitutes often end up on the streets.

“Let us not get into the morality of it. Even from a pure development lens, this is a waste of important human resources of the country and for the next generation that follows as children born to them,” said Ghimire. 

Ghimire, however, admitted that while prostitution cannot be totally stopped, it can be minimised with a secondary reporting mechanism, and just creating fear will not work if the underlying issues are not addressed. “This is a byproduct of the education system’s failure. To stop this trend, the government should provide more skill-oriented training with better job opportunities, and more surveillance is also needed,” said Ghimire.