Teen sex workers flock to Karimun

BATAM, Riau: Hundreds of teenage sex workers from Java and Sumatra flock to Karimun island in Riau province on weekends as the tourist industry on the island is booming.

Antara reported on Saturday that there were many teenage girls offering their services for between Rp 150,000 and Rp 250,000 an hour in the island's numerous cheap and mid-range hotels on weekends.

The news agency said the girls were lured by the fast developing tourist industry on the island, which is popular destination for tourist from neighboring Malaysia and Singapore.

Many of the girls, the news agency said, claimed to be working as masseuses at the massage parlors on the island, which is some 75 kilometers to the west of the island of Batam.

Local authorities have recently blamed prostitution on the Riau islands for the increasing number of HIV positive people in the area. (byg)