Online Scam: How the Chinese Police raided the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Laos

See the locations on Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone 金三角经济特区 Google map

Once upon a time there was just a casino with a golden crown, that could be seen from Thailand across the Mekong river in Laos (picture from March 2017):

Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an

Ein Beitrag geteilt von उत्कर्ष (@utkarsh516)

Today there is a city full of highrise buildings with signs in Chinese (video taken in 2023):



In the least populous province Bokoeo the tallest highrise building of Laos will soon dominate the bank of Mekong river: The new hotel will count 32 floors and be 146 meters high. And it is just one of several highrise complexes, which are growing along the river: Laos Xinyue City Center (鑫越城市中心项目) is the name of this project, constructed by Shanghai Baoye as general contractor. The residential section of the project is composed of 4 high-rise buildings, which are 92 to 97 meters high.

The project of Powerchina is located in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (金三角经济特区) in Tonpheung. It is just the newest example of a construction boom, that has transformed the formerly rural area in the North of Laos, where the borders of Laos, Thailand and Myanmar meet, into a city. For millions of US-Dollars Bokeo International airport (博胶国际机场) and Golden Dragon Mountain International Golf Resort (金龙山国际高尔夫度假村) have been added lately.

The mastermind behind this development is Zhao Wei (趙偉, 70), a native of China's Heilongjiang province, now Chairman of the administration of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone. The businessman initiated this zone in 2007 having won a 99-year lease covering a vast area of 3,000 hectares from the Lao government. Before setting up in Laos Zhao Wei was a timber merchant and operated casinos in Macao and in Mong La, a town on the border between China's Yunnan province and a rebel-controlled area in Myanmar. The casino in Mong La operated under the name Blue Shield Entertainment mainly for customers from China, where gambling is prohibited. It got frequented by many Chinese officials, what led China to pressure Zhao Wei for closing this operation. Therefore he transfered his activities to Laos, where he invested under the name of Golden Kapok Group 金木棉集团 and built the Blue Shield Casino (蓝盾娱乐), also known als Kings Romans Casino.


The Kapok Star Hotel

Around this casino high rise buildings went up in the last years. The most prominent one is Kapok Star Hotel (木棉之星酒店), illuminated every night in spectacular colours. There are more hotels, shops and entertainment venues. Meanwhile everything in this special econonomic zone in Laos is Chinese: People spend yuan, speak Mandarin, vehicle license plate numbers are written in Chinese, signboards are written in Chinese and people may travel there visa-free from China. And if you look on Facebook and Instagram many young asian woman are presenting themselves: Prostitution and drugs are widespread in the special economic zone - although forbidden in Laos. And last year it got more and more obvious, that the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone has become a hotspot for online fraud and human trafficking. Many people, who were lured with high-paying job offers, told the police and the media in China, Thailand, Malaysia, South Korea and other countries, how they were forced to work as online fraudsters, cheating internet users in many Asian countries and even were tortured, when they did not reach the fraud goals. In November 2023 the government of South Korea imposed a travel ban to the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone to prevent citizens from becoming victims of fraud crime.


Enormous building activites along Mekong river

The facebook accounts of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone did not talk about online fraud for a long time. And Zhao Wei's own security force seemed not to intervene against the illegal activities. Lao officials - for example the Prime Minister - frequently visited the zone and seemed to be backing everything, what happened there. This changed dramatically at the end of the year 2023 and the beginning of the year 2024. Chinese law enforcement officers of the Ministry of Public Security travelled to Laos. Together with Lao police forces they arrested 462 online fraud suspects in December and 154 people on January 21. Later followed more raids and another 114 suspects were caught. And on February 28 Chinese media reported: "268 criminal suspects who committed cross-border telecommunications network fraud were handed over to us." The handover took place in January at Bokeo international airport. The Lao Ministry of Public Security confirmed to Radio Free Asia that the suspects were arrested in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone.



The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone was not the only target of Chinas Ministry of Public Security. Similar operations were conducted in Myanmar, Cambodia, The Philippines and the United Arab Emirates. China is pushing hard against the scammers. In 2023, Chinese courts dealt with 31,000 telecom fraud cases (up 48%), sentenced 64,000 (up 39%). Incidence of cases of assisting online criminal activities also increased significantly, as the Vice President of Supreme People’s Court said.

And what is Casino tycoon Zhao Wei doing now? On February 26 he smiled broadly at his Kapok Star Hotel, where the Lao Central Committee held a conference on "Combating and Preventing Illegal Online Activities". Lao government held the meeting "to publicize the dangers of cybercrime and Lao national laws and regulations to all domestic and foreign investors, operators and workers, so as to ensure the peace, security and safety of the Lao country and people. orderly to ensure the healthy development of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone", as mp.weixin.qq.com/ reported. Wang Erbao, President of Golden Kapok Group, promised that the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone would cooperate with the Lao government to crack down on illegal and criminal activities and cooperate with the government to promote and improve laws and regulations against telecommunications network fraud.

LAOS: On 26 Feb, Lao Central Committee held conference on ‘Combating & Preventing Illegal Online Activities’. Event held in Kapok Star Hotel in Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone. The Golden Triangle SEZ is a major hub for illegal online activities. 1/ https://t.co/oJg47aYUzo pic.twitter.com/w3Lfof9A0d

— CyberScamMonitor (@CyberScamWatch) March 2, 2024

In 2023 Great Britain had sanctioned Zhao Wei, his wife Su Guiqin and his casino-director Eberahim Abbas due to links to *trafficking of individuals to the [GTSEZ], where they were forced to work as scammers … subject to physical abuse and further cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment."


Read also:
Thousands of (illegal) Myanmar workers constructed the buildings in Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone


Get an impression of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone by this video:

Bokeo International Airport: For two millions of Passengers - but only one Flight daily until now

Bokeo International Airport (BKIA) in Laos was expected to open end of 2023. But that did not happen. There was just a Youtube video announcing the opening soon:



The new airport is located at the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and covers 300 ha. It would be the second airport in Bokeo province in addition to the existing small airport located in the provincial capital Huayxai. The new airport has been constructed by the owners of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, Chinese-owned Kings Romans Casino (Dok Ngiew Kham Group with chairman Zhao Wei). The construction cost of US$175 million is being financed by the Hong Kong-based Greater Bay Area Investment and Development (HK) Limited, which is a member of the Dok Ngiew Kham Group, as Vientiane Times reported. The aiport is designed to accommodate large aircrafts including the Boeing 747 and Airbus 320.

Construction of Bokeo International airport shown on Facebook Page of Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone on May 4 in 2023.

Doubts came up in Bokeo province and elsewhere about this airport project. The Lao government can expect to lose customs revenue, taxes and entry fees to Chinese investors who have the 99-year lease on the land in Bokeo where the airport is being built, as rfa.org reported.

The Golden Triangle SEZ has also become a haven for criminal activities including money laundering, prostitution, online scam and drug trafficking, as the International Crisis Group pointed out in a report. It named the Special Economic Zone "South East Asia’s Most Conspicuous Criminal Enclave". In December the Lao authorities deported 462 Chinese nationals for offenses including human trafficking from the Golden Triangle SEZ.

The International Crisis group reported, that online scam operations are running in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone. But lately China has asked the countries in South Asia to fight the criminal networks behind these scam operations. This could be one more reason, why the opening of Bokeo International Airport was in delay. Such a big airport, that can handle 2 millions of passengers a year only makes sense, if Chinese authorities agree to flights from Chinese airports to Bokeo to transport customers to the casino and the hotels.

Then Bokeo International airport hold an opening ceremony on 5 February 2024. The ceremony was attended by Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone. But this ceremony was overshadowed by the announcement of Lao Airliness of the indefinite termination of Bokeo-Vientiane flights, as Laotian Times reported. So this airport for now only handles one passenger flight a day operated by Lanexang Airways International between Vientiane and Ton Pheung (ເມືອງຕົ້ນເຜິ້ງ). And this airline seems to be owned by the same Chinese company, who built the airport and developped the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone. This company got a 50-years concession for the airport, as Lao News Agency writes.


Read also:
Will the Chinese Scam Networks relocate their Operations from Myanmar to Laos?

Inside Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone: A Chinese Zone in Laos, where Americans are not allowed in

Along the Mekong in Laos, on the border with Thailand, Myanmar and China, lies the "Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone" (Chinese: 金三角经济特区; Lao: ເຂດເສດຖະກິດພິເສດສາມຫຼ່ຽມຄຳ). If you spend just a few minutes there, you'll quickly realize that it's an area that Laos does not control. Who does? The zone has an area of about 3,000 hectares and was created in 2007 by the Lao government together with the Chinese-owned Hong Kong-registered company Kings Romans Group with the hope of generating economic development. A casino and hotels are the main attractions. But the zone has gained a reputation of being a Chinese city rife with illegal activities such as drug, human and animal trafficking, as you can read on Wikipedia. In January 2018, the United States Treasury Department sanctioned Kings Romans, its owner, Zhao Wei, and the "Zhao Wei Transnational Crime Organization," alleging the casino was used to launder money and traffic drugs, among other serious crimes. That's why holders of American passports are not allowed in, as this video docoumentations shows:




Another documentary bei International Crisis Group about the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone: Inside South East Asia’s Criminal Empire.



Read more:
Will the Chinese Scam Networks relocate their Operations from Myanmar to Laos?

Will the Chinese Scam Networks relocate their Operations from Myanmar to Laos?

Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an

Ein Beitrag geteilt von Beam Jackree Rattanayong (@beam_rattanayong)

Kings Romans Casino in the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone along Mekong river in Laos

Fears are rising over Myanmar-based scam groups relocating to Laos due to crackdown in Myanmar, pushed by China, reports rfa.org. In recent months China has intensified a crackdown on online scams operated by criminal syndicates in forced labour camps in border areas of military-ruled Myanmar. “There have been growing concerns that many of these scam groups might opt to relocate their operations to Laos, especially to its Golden Triangle area,” a source who wished to remain anonymous for security reasons told Radio Free Asia. South Korea therefore has decided to impose a travel ban for the Lao Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ) from Feb. 1.

In December, the Lao authorities deported 462 Chinese nationals for offenses including human trafficking from the Golden Triangle SEZ according to rfa.org. in mid-September 164 Chinese nationals, including 46 arrested in the Bokeo Special Economic Zone were sent back to China. The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (SEZ) was established in 2007 in the northern province of Bokeo on a 3,000-hectare concession along the Mekong River. it has also earned a reputation as a haven for criminal activities, including prostitution and drug trafficking, reports rfa.org. Impoverished young people from Laos and neighboring countries have told Radio Free Asia they were lured to the area with the promise of a lucrative job but were then held against their will in casinos by trafficking rings that exploit them under threat of violence.

Lao authorities currently do not have the right to enter special economic zones to conduct investigations, notes rfa.org.

By <a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:SaiLp&amp;action=edit&amp;redlink=1" class="new" title="User:SaiLp (page does not exist)">SaiLp</a> - <span class="int-own-work" lang="en">Own work</span>, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

The skyline of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone on Mekong river

To the criminal networks, the casinos in Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia are the new banks, allowing them to launder money on a vast scale away from scrutiny and with little likelihood of law enforcement catching up with them, according to a report released in January by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), writes South China Morning Post. The government of China has painted an alarming picture of a Mekong region studded with casinos that are a crucial cog in the money-laundering machines engineered by gangsters in Taiwan and Macau, including the infamous 14K Triad and Taiwan’s Heavenly Way Alliance.

Zhao Wei (赵伟) is the owner of the Dok Ngiew Kham Group and co-owner of Hong Kong SAR-listed Kings Romans International (HK) which operates the Kings Romans casino in Laos. He is also the chairman of the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ). In the UNODC-report you can read: "Zhao Wei’s network of criminal connections in Asia has been solidified through his close association as a purported member of the 14K triad. In January 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Kings Romans and Zhao Wei, declaring his network a ‘transnational criminal organization’ and imposing sanctions on him and three associates as well as three of his companies based in Lao PDR, Thailand, and Hong Kong SAR. In addition to drug trafficking, the U.S. Treasury also alleges that Zhao’s network engages in human trafficking, wildlife trafficking, money laundering, and bribery, much of which is facilitated through Kings Romans." in December 2023, authorities in China and Lao PDR executed a joint operation targeting confirmed cyberfraud operations, raiding seven business offices and arresting 462 suspects in the Golden Triangle SEZ. Zhao Wei has denied the allegations that illegal activities took place in the zone.

But by a visit in 2023 the International Crisis Group identified four guarded high-rise buildings with barred windows and high fences wrapped in razor wire. "Locals told Crisis Group that people were locked inside and forced to work as online scammers", you can read in "Stepping into South East Asia’s Most Conspicuous Criminal Enclave".

Sieh dir diesen Beitrag auf Instagram an

Ein Beitrag geteilt von Kou Keoviengkham (@kou_kidork)

Zhao Wei (red dress) in a picture from November 2019


According to Prof. Dr. Pinkaew Laungaramsri from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Chiang Mai University Zhao Wei has also invested in KK Park in Myanmar, a hub for scam operations and other crimes near the border of Mae Sot district in Thailand. She told https://transbordernews.in.th/: “One of the KK buildings, the KK4, as far as we know, has been made possible by the joint-investment with Kings Romans. Basically, Zhao Wei has purchased and invested in the project. Why did he buy the building? Obviously, because it is a hub of all the call-center gangsters and the connection is there.” The Professor said also: "At present, people lured to work with the call-center gangsters have been sold off to the Golden Triangle gangs and ended up in the area opposite to Mae Sot District. They are initially shipped through a boat ride to Tachileik and then transported on to Mae Sot District."


Read also:
Macao on the Mekong: How Chinese money flows into the Golden Triangle (31.1.2018)

Report "Casinos, Money Laundering, Underground Banking, and Transnational Organized Crime in East and Southeast Asia: A Hidden and Accelerating Threat" by UNODC
Transnational Crime and Geopolitical Contestation along the Mekong. Report by International Crisis Group.

From Kunming to Vientiane: The Crossborder Service of Lao-China-Railway has started

See stations and tunnels of China Laos Railway on Google Map by #treasuresoflaos

The Lanexang EMU, arriving at Vang Vieng station

Finally it's possible to travel on railway from Kunming in China to Vientiane in Laos: On April 13 the first trains left Kunming and Vientiane and arrived 10-and-half-hours later at their destination. The 1,000-kilometer rail line, which links the capital of China’s Yunnan province to the capital of Laos, had been completed in December 2021, but due to Chinas’s strict “zero COVID” policies, the border of China and Laos could not be crossed.

Now the fast train between Vientiane and Kunming South Station is running daily in both directions, starting at 8:08 am and arriving at 19.38 in Kunming (China time) and 17.38 in Vientiane. First class tickets for the full journey are available for 760 yuan ($110) while second-class tickets are priced at 470 yuan ($68). Laos-China Railway Company Limited (LCR) have launched an App on Google Play, iOS and Huawei to allow passengers to purchase LCR train tickets on their mobile phones using UnionPay cards. The service is operated with green bullet trains of China Railway and the Lanexang EMU trains of Lao-China-Railway. Find more informations on Hobomap.

For the border checks the passengers have to leave the train in Mohan (China) and Boten (Laos) with all their belongings. The stops will take 90 minutes.


Read more:
China-Laos Railway: Timetable, Tickets and Rules

The China-Laos Railway started cross-border passenger services last Thursday, with the first passenger train departing from Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, and heading for the Lao capital Vientiane. pic.twitter.com/efhw3Q85Qq

— JoyceChi🇨🇳（互fo） (@JoyceChi51) April 17, 2023

The Lanexang EMU of Lao-China-Railway entering Mohan station in China:

Historic moment! The first international trains on the #China-#Laos #railway departing respectively from Kunming, Yunnan province and Vientiane, Laos, "meet" each other. #BeltandRoad pic.twitter.com/R7Dphq6mO9

— Ji Rong嵇蓉 (@JiRongMFA) April 14, 2023

The green bullet train of China Railway entering Vang Vieng station in Laos:

Uncertain future for Phou Ngoy Mekong Hydropower Project

As locals await relocation and environmentalists raise concerns over impacts on the Mekong’s ecology, the future of the planned Phou Ngoy dam (also called Lat Sua) looks uncertain, "The Third Pole" reports. The run-of-river-dam is planned on the Mekong River in Champasak Province in Laos, about 18 km downstream from Pakse. The project for producing 728 Megawatt of electricity has been developped by Charoen Energy and Water Asia Corporation of Thailand (CEWA) and the South Korean construction companies Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction and Korea Western Power. The dam structure would be 1,300 meters long and 27 meters high with a head of 10.6 meters.

Visualisation of the Phou Ngoy Hydropower Project by CEWA

How many villages along the Mekong are affected?
The US $2.4-billion dollar project would impact more than 200 hectares of land and 88 villages, 57 villages above the dam and 31 below. The most-affected village would be Ban Khonken fishing village, where 811 residents reside in 142 households. They have been told that they will have to relocate for the construction works.

Is there an impact on Vat Phou Unescco World Heritage site?
An official at the Lao Ministry of the Information, Culture and Tourism said according to rfa.org he was worried about the dam’s impact on Vat Phou, a Khmer Hindu temple complex about six kilometers (3.7 miles) from the Mekong River. “If the Lao government and the Phou Ngoy Dam developer really want to build this dam, they’ll have to do the Heritage Impact Assessment, similar to the one for the Luang Prabang Dam Project that has been submitted to UNESCO,” he said.

Is Phou Ngoy Hydropower project economically feasable?
There are doubts, as "The Third Pole" reported in Dezember. Yongpil Seo, country director of the Thai office of Doosan Enerbility, one of the Korean partners, said he thought it was “unlikely” the Korean partners would continue with the project, adding he believed CEWA is currently looking for lower-cost Chinese partners and is struggling to find investment. No power-purchase agreement (PPA) with the Thai state enterprise Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) seems in sight.

Construction for Controversial Mekong Dam near Luang Prabang has progressed

Another interruption of the free flow of Mekong river and the way for its fish population; more than 1200 families are forced to move their homes and income resources, and the earthquake risk for the historic town of Unesco-protected Luang Prabang is rising: The construction of a highly controversial hydropower project in Laos has begun. The energy shall be delivered to Thailand.

See the location of Luang Prabang hydropower project on Google Map by #treasuresoflaos and on Mekong River Hydropower Dams and Plants Google Map

The development cost of the 1,460-Megawatt facility is estimated at U.S. $ 3 billions. The run-of-the-river dam is planned about 25 kilometers upstream from Luang Prabang, at Houygno village according to the website of Mekong River Commission, located by the upstream Pak Beng hydropower project and the downstream Xayaburi project. The energy will be produced by 7 turbines or generators, each delivering 200 Megawatt. See this introduction video:



Who is behind the Luang Prabang hydropower project?
The Luang Prabang Power Company Limited (LPCL), a company established by Lao PDR and PetroVietnam Power Corporation, is the project developer, finances it and will operate it. In late 2020 an ownership change occurred with the stock ownership of Luang Prabang Power Company Limited changed to the following: PT Sole Co., Ltd. 38 percent; Petro Vietnam Power Corporation 10 percent; CK Power Public Company 42 percent and CH. Karnchang Public Company Limited 10 percent. CK Power Plc (CKP) is the power generation arm of the Thai construction firm CH Karnchang Plc, which built the Xayaburi Dam. So a Thai company is the major shareholder . in July 2021 LPCL signed the Concession Agreement of the LPHPP with the Government of the Lao PDR, for a concession period of 35 years. LPCL has signed a tariff Memorandum of Understanding with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT). EGAT shall be the off-taker of all electricity generated by the Luang Prabang hydropower plant from the scheduled Commercial Operation Date (January 1, 2030).

What happens tro the people living around the dam area?
More than 1,200 families in Oudomxay province will be forced to move to make way for the project. The dam will flood a dozen villages on the bank of the Mekong River in Nga district, including Lath Han, Khok Phou, Yoiyai and Phonsavang. Also residents of Houei Yor village, Chomphet district, in Luang Prabang province are affected. Residents of Nga district in Oudomxay province and Chomphet district in Luang Prabang province say authorities are shortchanging them for the land and other property they would lose. Oudomxay officials offered 100 million kip (U.S. $8,500) per hectare of farmland to locals, said a Nga district resident.

What happens to the historic town of Luang Prabang and ist famous temples - a UNESCO World Heritage Site?
Unesco has demanded a Heritage Impact Assessment, because there were concerns. Dams will encircle Luang Prabang’s urban area. " I can see a nightmare scenario where dam operators aren’t talking to each other, a massive weather event pours through northern Laos and sudden dam releases from these dams cause an unnecessary flooding event around Luang Prabang,” said Brian Eyler, director of the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia programme. “The Xayaburi dam would act like a plug in the bathtub, not allowing the water out to the downstream if its flood responses weren’t ready for those sudden upstream releases. It’s a complicated but possible scenario.” The Luang Prabang dam would be the first in the Lower Mekong Basin to encounter water discharged from the 11 mainstream Chinese dams, including the massive 5,850 MW Nuozhadu dam. Upstreams of Luang Prabang the Mekong also merges with the Nam Ou, a river with a cascade of seven hydropower dams built by PowerChina.
By signing the World Heritage Convention, countries pledge “not to take any deliberate measures which might directly or indirectly damage the natural and cultural heritage” of a site and to “ensure the protection and conservation of their Outstanding Universal Value and other heritage values.”
The dam will be built in an earthquake-prone zone. “We are very worried about the seismic fault only 8.6 kilometers from the Luang Prabang dam site,” said leading Thai seismologist Punya Churasiri. “It is too dangerous to go ahead with this project.”

How is the progress of the construction works so far?

อัปเดต 2023, โครงการก่อสร้างเขื่อนหลวงพระบาง ห่างจากมรดกโลกหลวงพระบาง ประมาณ 25 กม. **โดยทุนไทย**
-
Update 2023, Construction work has begun on the Luang Prabang hydropower dam on the Mekong River in Laos.#เขื่อนหลวงพระบาง #แม่น้ำโขง pic.twitter.com/o4QkhN5Q6y

— Phetric 🥸 (@PHETSIAM) February 7, 2023

In March 2021 Xinhua reported that the preparatory work was already 80 per cent complete. Among the work was the construction of an 11-km access road, a 500-metre bridge over the Mekong River, three temporary ports, as well as some transmission lines and a small electricity station. Bangkok Tribune shows pictures of the construction progress.

What could stop the construction of Luang Prabang hydropower plant?
The dam has been criticised by environmental groups and the government in Thailand, which will feel the effects on its Mekong border with Laos and beyond. “Surely effects for Thailand include fish loss, the fluctuations of dams cutting the river ecology, the unnatural water flow and the sediment loss until the water becomes blue,” said Niwat Roykaew of Thailand’s Chiang Khong Conservation Group, adding that it will impact fishing communities. Thailand’s authorities have received pressure from environmental groups to not purchase power from the Luang Prabang dam and other projects. But: "Environmental and heritage reviews are unlikely to stop the Lao government forging ahead with its hydroelectric plans", wrote Milton Osborne.


Updated informations about Luang Prabng hydropower plant you can find on Hobomaps.


Read also:
Luang Prabang Mekong Dam: Completed by 2030?
Another controversial Mekong Dam in Luang Prabang raises Fears
Laos - the Battery of Asia: Hydropower Dams and Consequences