Under the red light:
A tale of two sex workers
Linh, a Vietnamese mother escaping abuse, and Dada, a Thai university graduate with an exit plan, both see sex work in Singapore as a calculated risk – a means to support their families and build a future. In a city that both regulates and criminalises their trade, their stories expose the uneasy realities behind the headlines and the raids.
Linh, a Vietnamese mother escaping abuse, and Dada, a Thai university graduate with an exit plan, both see sex work in Singapore as a calculated risk – a means to support their families and build a future. In a city that both regulates and criminalises their trade, their stories expose the uneasy realities behind the headlines and the raids.
Linh’s story
In 2008, 24-year-old Linh left Ho Chi Minh City to marry a Singaporean man nearly two decades her senior. She gave up her life in Vietnam – family, friends and home – to start over in a new country.
Not long afterwards, she got pregnant and became a full-time housewife.
Her husband gave her $300 a month for household expenses.
But cracks started to appear…
He cheated, they fought constantly and the situation turned abusive.
“He was just really hard to live with,” she said.
When the violence escalated, Linh knew she had to find a way to support herself and her daughter independently.
With advice from others in the Vietnamese community, she began working – days at a Vietnamese restaurant…
…and nights at a food centre as a beer hostess.
In 2021, after both her elderly parents in Vietnam fell ill, she needed to send more money home. That was when a friend introduced her to sex work.
The sex trade
The job came with upfront costs – $5,000 paid to the owner of an unlicensed brothel as insurance in case of raids.
Linh also paid $35 for half an hour, or $60 an hour, to use a room. After that, whatever she earned from clients was hers to keep.
“Some customers offered more for ‘no condom’, but I didn’t take risks,” she said.
She heard plenty of horror stories: clients refusing to pay, mocking the women or pushing boundaries.
“They knew we were foreigners. Sometimes, they just refuse to pay and say...”
Once, she joined a friend for a booking with a regular, who promised to pay later. But he disappeared the next day.
“We meet all kinds – some good, some trying to cheat us. But luckily, not many get violent,” she said.
To keep the premises safe, some brothel owners hired bouncers. But once the door closed behind a client and a worker, they were on their own.
Police raids were a constant threat. If someone caught wind of one, workers had to drop everything and leave immediately.
“In raids, if no customers were around, the police would usually just leave,” she said.
Leaving it behind
Linh did sex work for less than two years. After both her parents died in 2023, she left the trade behind. She now works as a masseuse at a legitimate parlour. “Not dirty,” she said.
She earns less now, but it is enough. Her estranged husband provides no support, and she lives alone in a rented room above the massage shop. Her daughter lives with a relative.
Even though she rarely sees her husband, Linh has not filed for divorce. She is afraid it might cost her the Long-Term Visit Pass – and her ability to stay in Singapore with her daughter.
Reflecting on her time in sex work, she said the money could be good, but it was never easy.
“You only rest when there are no customers. Some days you earn a lot, some days nothing. But I am not cheating anyone,” she said.
Paying it forward
She has seen other Vietnamese women on short-term visit passes coming for a month at a time, often through agents who take half their earnings.
“If a client pays $200, the agent takes $100,” she said.
Through non-profit organisation Project X, she learnt about support services for sex workers. Now, she is paying it forward.
“I’ve been here 17 years. I’ve seen a lot, suffered a lot. So when I meet other Vietnamese women who don’t know where to turn to, I help however I can – or send them to Project X.”
Dada’s story
Dada arrived in Singapore in late July on one of her regular trips here.
Dada’s story
Dada arrived in Singapore in late July on one of her regular trips here.
She usually stays for two to three weeks...
...working long hours at a massage parlour tucked inside an unmarked building.
The 33-year-old from Lopburi, Thailand, is soft-spoken and calm. She is the youngest of three children; she has lost her father and one of her brothers.
“I studied business at university,” she said. “Then I worked as an accountant in Bangkok for a few years.”
But the pay did not stretch far enough.
She switched to massage work – non-sexual at first – for two years. Then a friend in the sex trade suggested she give it a shot.
The friend helped her find a spot at a massage parlour in Singapore. Dada bought a return ticket with her own savings and entered on a 30-day tourist visa.
Now, she works about 12 hours a day in a dimly lit shop where mattresses line the floor, separated by curtains. Women wait near the entrance for customers.
The mamasan handles client negotiations and checks with Dada before confirming anything.
“If I’m okay with it, we go ahead. If not, I say no.”
One boundary is non-negotiable: Condoms are a must.
“If a client even brings up not using one, I stop right away. I’m serious about safety.”
Most days, she sees just two or three clients.
“The number of customers changes. If there’s none, I just eat and rest here,” she said.
She also works in Taiwan, where business is better and earnings are higher.
But she times her trips to match the paydays in Singapore – there are more customers at the start and end of a month.
So far, she has not had any bad experiences. But everyone around her is always on edge about police raids.
Dada keeps in touch with a Thai friend outside the industry when she is here. If something goes wrong, that person is whom she would call.
Since 2024, she has made several trips to Singapore and Taiwan for work. Back in Thailand, she does not work at all.
Each trip brings in around S$4,000 – enough to live on for a few months.
“I don’t have a boyfriend or plans to get married. I like being on my own,” she said with a small laugh.
Her family does not know about her work. She usually says she is just on holiday or does not tell them when she goes out of town.
Dada hopes to do this for another two or three years.
Her goal is to save enough to open a small tea cafe back home.
“I heard it doesn’t need a lot of capital and the profits can be decent,” she said.
TEXT: JESSICA NOVIA
ILLUSTRATIONS:
CHNG CHOON HIONG,
BILLY KER,
BRYANDT LYN
PUBLISHED NOV 16, 2025
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