'Las Vegas In Laos': The Riverside City Awash With Crime

Source: International Business Times

The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone in Laos was set up in 2007, when the Laos government granted the Kings Romans Group a 99-year lease on the area AFP Rising from the muddy fields on the Mekong riverbank in Laos, a lotus tops a casino in a sprawling city which analysts decry as a centre for cybercrime. Shabby, mismatched facades -- including an Iberian-style plaza replete with a church tower, turrets and statues -- stand alongside high-rise shells. The Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone (GTSEZ) is the most prominent of more than 90 such areas established across the Mekong region in recent years, often offering people reduced taxes or government regulation.