Chuwit Kamolwisit who is known as the former 'King of Soapy Massages' says that old-fashioned prostitution is over.
Raised in Thailand, a college graduate from the United States, Chuvit made his fortune in Bangkok running luxury massage parlours where women offered customers erotic baths.
The colourful character, who has also been a TV presenter, politician and prisoner, was invited to comment for Channel 3 on the sale of a huge soapy massage centre for 470 million baht, a price many turned down, and which was bought in one day by an enthusiastic buyer.
The huge massage complex includes a 50-table cafe and 104 private rooms in a central location on Arun Amarin Road in Bangkok's Pin Klao district.
According to Mr Chuwit, the high selling price demanded by the elderly owner, who said he had no heirs to pass the business on to, was justified not by the value of the massage business but by the prime location of the building.
He said that the days of men going to massage parlours, girl bars or soapy massage places were over, because now anyone who wants to have fun can find women on the LINE app.
Chuwit was interviewed by Channel 3 and spoke about the future of places like massage parlours.
He painted a bleak picture of the future, saying that all massage parlours have closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and that he does not expect them to be profitable when they reopen.
In his view, banks will be very reluctant to offer loans to these struggling companies.
The 470 million baht deal for the soapy massage centre probably has little to do with massages, but everything to do with what Chuwit calls "golden real estate".
It remains to be seen what will happen to this soapy massage behemoth: will it reopen as before?
Or is it just a prime piece of real estate that will be turned into new condos or something similar?
Source: The Thaiger
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