Disguised karaoke and sex shops flourish

Tuoi Tre reporters recently visited illegal karaoke and sex shops that are operating under music recording licenses in Ho Chi Minh’s notorious districts.

One of them was a business at No. 16 Nguyen Thai Binh Street in District 1.

Outside this building were two sign boards that read “Restaurant Model” and “Thien Thien Thanh Restaurant Ltd” and inside were lots of sexy girls.

On the evening of April 20, all of the 6 rooms inside the building were packed with foreigners who were served enthusiastically by young girls wearing short skirts.

At a room on the second floor, 2 foreigners were drinking wine while ogling at scantily clad girls who were singing and twisting their bodies.

At MN, another unlicensed karaoke shop on Phan Dang Luu Street in Phu Nhuan District, Tuoi Tre reporters followed some male customers who were greeted with “Do you want any girl to sing with you?” by a male receptionist.

As the guys said yes, they were shown to a room where several girls immediately entered and sat down beside each one of them.

During an inspection, the inspectors found a karaoke system hidden under a chair

Prepared in all cases

At these illegally shops, karaoke systems are hidden under tables and sofas, behind walls or even above restrooms’ ceilings.

Nguyen Hung, deputy director of the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism said these businesses must be operating under music recording licenses which are often issued easily without inspection by district authorities.

Owners of these businesses said they had already included fines in service prices so even if they were caught and fined by authorities, they wouldn’t suffer a loss.

They said according to the laws, their licenses would only be withdrawn after they were caught the third time. So after they were caught twice, they would simply register their businesses under a different owner’s name or move to some other place.

After 5 years of halting the issuance of licenses to karaoke shops as part of an effort to “re-plan” this sensitive sector, the government resumed granting these licenses last January. However, HCMC is yet to issue new licenses as the city hasn’t completed its re-planing.

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Posted in: Society,Vietnam