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Peter Michael

Shoni, a 23-year-old prostitute, has sex with an average of seven men a day.

'Some are nicer than others,' says the woman, who opens the door wearing a bikini.

Shoni  - not her real name - and the two girls next door on the same floor and the three on the floor below are the face of  Hong Kong's emerging cyber-brothel industry.

Operating out of one-prostitute apartments, Shoni and hundreds like her are part of what seems to be an exploitation of a legal loophole for operators to run an online brothel.

She relies almost solely on the business generated by her appearance on a sex website. Charging a negotiable rate of about $400 for an hour, she offers massages, sex, 'anything you want'. She keeps some of the money, but the rest goes to 'them' - she refuses to say who her partners are or how much they get.

Based on her hourly rate and average of seven men a day - except on Sundays  - Shoni  makes more than $2,000 a day.

Leading the way into her one-room flat - with a small toilet and shower cubicle to the side - in the inner-city residential apartment block, Shoni  is willing to talk about her business. Another customer is inside, but appears to be finished and is ushered out the door.

Shoni agrees to be photographed but not identified. 'They will get very angry.' Again, she does not say who 'they' are. Outside, visible on the CCTV screen in the room, another man is pressing the buzzer. When he doesn't get a reply he pauses for a moment and then tries the room next door.

She does not comment about the families and children living down the corridor, their toys cluttering the aisle. She says she spends most of her time in the flat.

But now she has had enough of the questions and is eager to conclude the interview. Time is money.



One-room prostitute provides 'anything you want' for $400