Songkhla _ Nightclubs in the border town of Sadao are trying to win back tourists driven away by the violence in the deep South, offering male night owls a chance to ``feel'' beautiful women.

The new sex service is available in most venues, from open-air restaurants to cafes and go-go bars.

Male visitors can touch any part of the young girls' bodies, including intimate areas, for no more than 10 minutes at 20 baht a shot.



Most customers are Malaysians crossing the border into the district of Songkhla, and local visitors.

The girls work at nightspots in Dan Nok, the Thai border post opposite Kedah, the Malaysian northern state.

After 11pm around 100 of them move to the district town, about 10km further inland, to give customers a touch until 1.30am.

The girls wear skirts over shorts to deter male customers who want more than just touching. They come from across the country and are aged 15-35 years. Many also work as dancers and singers at the nightspots, when they are not being groped late at night.

Yung, 25, from Chiang Mai's San Kamphaeng district, said she entered the business five months ago because she did not like studying.

She made around 1,600 baht a night working in a border club but the owner took half so she had to work late in other places to make up the difference. She was not happy with her job but felt she had no choice. Twenty baht was not enough, as she had to be touched by many men each day. But at least the job gave her enough money to live on. She put 40 baht into her piggy bank every day, to save for the future.

``Twenty baht may seem like nothing, but it's all men have to pay to touch me here and there,'' she said.

Yung says she does not sleep with customers. She only allows men to touch her breasts and other body parts, but not her genital area which she tried to protect as much as she could.

Pam, a 22-year-old from Songkhla, said she chose to work here because she did not know what else she could do.

She did not like being groped so she drugged herself with alcohol and illegal drugs while she was working.

``I just let them touch. Many 20 baht notes could add up to hundreds of baht,'' she said.

She had to stop working several times after drinking too much but she needed to get drunk to inhibit any sexual feeling.

``Don't be surprised to find me withdrawn. I am simply too drunk to feel anything,'' she said.