HAVE SEX . . . WILL TRAVEL

YOUNG expatriate backpackers are turning to prostitution and pornography to finance their stay in Hong Kong and to pay for further travel. The youthful gweipors, mostly British, have found the territory's sex trade pays high dividends.

But police warn the girls are at risk of exploitation by triads and face the dangers inherent in encounters with criminal groups. One upmarket Tsim Sha Tsui club visited by the Sunday Morning Post was staffed mainly by scantily clad British girls in their late teens and early 20s.

In recent weeks, the bar has more than doubled its quota of expatriate hostesses, according to Angel (not her real name). A 21-year-old Briton, she wore a see-through bra and thin sarong as she served drinks to the mainly affluent Chinese clientele.

'When I started, there were only 10 or 11 of us but now there are 20 odd,' Angel said. A posse of expatriate female dancers, at times wearing no more than black G-strings, complement the hostesses with a colourful floor show.

'I'm just a sit-down girl, you can pay for me to sit with you,' Angel said. 'But a lot of the other girls do escort work. You pay the club whatever they're charging for the girl - usually about $3,000 - take her out and then you have to work out a price with her for the sex.' A police spokesman said such clubs operated within the law as negotiations over sexual services were between the prostitute and client.

'Prostitution is not illegal in Hong Kong,' he said. 'The only way it can come apart is if the club enters negotiations or receives any of the money. They get their big escort fee and they're happy.' Other British women contacted by the Sunday Morning Post said they had found work in hostess clubs and pornographic films after responding to advertisements in Chungking and Mirador Mansions.