Laos’s sin city, where all bets are off

This casino in Laos, near the Golden Triangle, is a magnet for gamblers and hedonists, some loaded with drug money.

Kings Romans receives a stream of ­Chinese gamblers with pockets and briefcases filled with cash.

It’s 9am and the gaming tables are going strong. As croupiers take bets from the overnight diehards, exhausted gamblers sleep, one still clutching a wad of betting slips.

Welcome to Kings Romans, a sprawling casino complex topped by a golden crown that bursts into view from a sleepy river bank on the Laos side of the Mekong River.

The Chinese-owned casino in Ton Pheung district, Bokeo, is the centrepiece of a 10,000sq m Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone set up by communist-ruled Laos with investment from its giant neighbour.

The other Golden Triangle nations, Thailand and Myanmar, sit just across the river, an intersection that long has hosted illicit activities — from drugs and human trafficking to weapons smuggling and the sale of rare species.

The casino is an attempt by the Laos government to cash in on an activity banned in China yet loved by its people: gambling. And the good times are rolling as a Chinese crackdown on gambling and other vices pushes pleasure-seekers to more permissive nations nearby.

The two-storey Kings Romans casino is dwarfed by its rivals in the regional gambling hub of Macau and in Southeast Asian neighbours Cambodia and Vietnam.

But — open seven days a week, 24 hours a day — Kings Romans receives a steady stream of ­Chinese gamblers who have made their way south with pockets and briefcases filled with cash.

“Chinese players really are among the greatest gamblers in the world,” a hostess responsible for welcoming customers enthuses. “They can stay one or two days at the same gaming table non-stop, it’s incredible,” she adds, unwilling to give her name in a zone dominated by murky interests and where discretion is the watchword.

Venturing inside the SEZ feels like stepping into China. The clocks are all set to Beijing time, Mandarin and other Chinese dialects are commonplace, and the main currency is the yuan.

Few of the employees are Laotian. Most are Chinese or from Myanmar. For impoverished and landlocked Laos, the zone is a much needed source of income.

Chinese money runs through the Laos economy. It is the biggest investor in rail, roads and hydropower. Observers say the inflow of cash comes at a cost, including environmental damage and the displacement of landless poor.

It is claimed the SEZ is a place to wash dirty money from China. The Golden Triangle long has been known for its drug production, previously responsible for some of the world’s most sought after heroin. In recent years many drug syndicates have switched to crystal meth and other synthetic highs, according to a recent UN Office on Drugs and Crime report.

“Cash-based commercial activities such as casinos, currency exchange shops or even just restaurants offer better opportunities to introduce in the legitimate economy money obtained through illegal activities,” warns Giovanni Brossard, from the UNODC. Laos has moved to crack down on money laundering, “yet so far no single money laundering case has made it to court”, ­Brossard says.

A host of bacchanalian industries have sprung up. Sex workers ply their trade at the myriad massage parlours. “People love to come here with friends and book private rooms,” explains a Chinese member of staff at a local disco. “Most are men and they bring in girls.”

The SEZ also caters to those with illegal culinary tastes. A probe by campaign group Environmental Investigation Agency found visitors could buy products from endangered species. Restaurants offer sauteed tiger meat, bear paws and live pangolins on their menus.

“One business kept a live python and a bear cub in cages, both were available to eat on request,” the EIA investigators found.