Inside China’s Lawless Gangster Enclave In Laos
I am in Northern Thailand at the infamous Golden Triangle where three countries are meeting we have Thailand here we have Myanmar over there and we have Laos over there well kind of because over there is an area called the Golden Triangle special economic zone which kind of belongs to China and in this video we are trying to visit this zone no picture okay I just came here on my own really you're brave this special economic zone has been leased by a Chinese company called king's Roman Corporation for 99 years behind the king's Roman Corporation is Zhao Wei an allegedly sanctioned chinese-born gangster Tycoon according to the media this zone is now notorious for illegal activities like human trafficking drug trade and money laundering still the place is apparently full with Chinese casinos and hotels but how can the place that the media calls the lawless playgrounds of Laos be a popular place to visit for tourists and will I be safe there when I visit with my camera there is a risk of being kidnapped here there's a guy following me now let's find out feel free to join now the first problem is that I am actually not 100% sure if I am able to enter Laos from here according to Google Maps there's an immigration office which is actually right here and yeah I read some reviews some people were writing that they were able to enter Laos from here some people said they were not so we have to figure that out first of all can I park here and yeah so the first problem is will I be actually able to enter Laos from here and then the second problem is will I be allowed back into Thailand later on because yeah I'm only planning to spend a few hours over there so these are the two things that I have to figure out now and then we see what will happen so yeah this is not just a tourist day trip tour that you can do I'm actually leaving Thailand so I will get a stamp out of the country and then I will get a stamp into Laos and then yeah I have to return later and basically get a new Visa into Thailand so I'm not sure if that will work but let's see step by step and yeah the first thing that I noticed here check it out we already have a Chinese characters written here so I think they are expecting Chinese tourists here so I can imagine that also Chinese tourist who are visiting this region of Northern Thailand they would like to go over there to the Chinese City also over there everything in Chinese already so it starts already here on the Thailand side at the immigration office okay we're having National departures here Golden Triangle Thailand Laos border crossing point actually I think Crossing into Laos won't be the biggest problem for me I think the biggest problem uh will be if I am able to enter Thailand in a few hours again and yeah taking photos is prohibited inside the building so let me figure this out and then I will update you once I'm done okay we do have the first problem I'm not allowed to leave now or I am allowed to leave but he said I'm not allowed back into the country unless I I have the three things that are written on this paper the first of all I need 10,000 B in cash with me in order to be back allowed into the country then I need a ticket leaving Thailand so they want to see a proof that I am leaving Thailand soon and I need a a hotel booking or an address here in Thailand so 10,000 B cash no problem actually I have a lot of cash with me anyway because I'm not sure how things will turn out over there and how much money I actually need so I have 10,000 B cash with me I have an address here because yeah I have a hotel where I'm staying I just need a ticket leaving Thailand I don't have a ticket yet so I will try to uh book a flight leaving Thailand right now and then I should be able to uh leave Thailand and be allowed back in later okay in 5 minutes later I do have a booking for a flight leaving Thailand next week let's try it again and I am out of Thailand so I got a stamp leaving Thailand now so later when I come back fingers crossed everything will work later we will see that later so then in theory I should be able to get a new stamp into Thailand so a new 30-day Visa exemption in my case Hello can take a boat here yeah yeah how much 100 100 bu what time is the last boat coming back 8 8 8:00 okay okay I got a boat ticket for crossing the river into Laos and yeah also the officer told me that hey we can't guarantee you that you will be able to enter Laos that's the thing of the immigration over there that's not our our business and yeah I need a visa for LA and I should be able in theory to pay for that on arrival check it out you can see all the buildings that are being built over there including the big golden building that's the main casino over there I think and I just missed the boat to be honest most of the people here also most of the people inside the immigration office seem to be Chinese people I saw lots of Chinese passport but I got to say it's a beautiful area right the weather is nice the sun is shining we have the big Buddha statue over there which is where I filmed my intro earlier and then over there we have Myanmar we have Laos SL China and Thailand here okay let's go over to LA to be honest I can't remember the last time I did a border crossing via land usually I'm flying into the countries so this is by the way this is also my first time going to La I've never been to Laos before it's one of the few countries for me left in Southeast Asia where I haven't been to yet but to be honest I don't expect a very L experience today based on from what I've heard it's actually more like China over there also it's really interesting so I checked into my hotel here yesterday and then I asked the lady working at the reception about uh how I can go to Laos here and then she said yeah you can take the boat here in theory but actually you're not going to Laos then you're going to China over there that's what she said so let's see how long this boat ride will be all three go now to be honest during this boat ride I felt a bit nervous because I just didn't know what to expect I read all the negative reports about this place and I just had a bad feeling going there some of the reviews on Google for example say warning the land is owned by tar a US sanctioned Chinese gangster Americans are banned from entering to prevent the outside world from knowing which International crimes are committed here foreigners get kidnapped in this area and extorted for money absolutely horrific a place of misery to be avoided have a look at this it looks like they are building a proper arrival Hall here a proper Immigration Center Golden Triangle international border checkpoint this is actually very interesting very exciting day for me I really like International Adventures like this I'm the Border Enthusiast I like seeing borders of countries Crossing these borders especially doing it in a way like this via boat this is way more interesting than just flying into a new country thank you and just like that we have crossed the river which is by the way the Mong River one of the biggest rivers in the world and let's see how the arrival process would be like here in Laos oh check it out everything in Chinese here I feel a little bit like engineering China hello just go here yeah okay I think in Laos they say savadi as hello in Thailand you say savadi and then you add cop if you're a man or car if you're a female and in La they just say savadi here we are unlocking a new country on my list first time setting foot on Laos territory here I am in Laos well officially I haven't entered yet uh I think there needs to be an immigration office here which is actually pretty cool I mean look at this what a nice looking immigration office and we have welcome to Lao PDR yeah literally all the signs here are also in Chinese so they are really prepared here for Chinese people arriving here also in the Thailand immigration office there were lots of signs uh in Chinese In tha and in English uh warning for drug activities uh sentences saying like don't be involved in any drug crime over here things like that so ready hello ah oh see that sa car maybe she's TI oh have a look at the sign here cheris life stay away from drugs pretty dangerous looking sign over here right and yeah I think I won't be able to a film in here so uh see you on the other side okay I was giving an arrival card which I have to fill out just entering some basic information uh which you have to fill out in many countries when you enter them so nothing special and I am officially in Laos and I got welcomed with the immigration officer scamming me because the official price for the visa to Laos is $4 you can read it everywhere online and the officer even told me you have to pay $40 and then I said oh I don't have US dollar with me can I pay in thaad and then he said well in taibat it's 2,000 which equals to $55 so that's $15 more than the official Visa price but uh obviously I can't do anything in a situation like this okay so in order to get to this speci economic zone which starts over there you can see it on the background already the high buildings there uh I need to find the transportation somehow uh to be honest I was expecting that there will be like Tuk TS here or something like that uh this looks like form of transportation but it looks more like maybe from a casino or from a resort oh we have right taxis right here maybe I can take one of them hello you can take me to a casino yeah okay okay again n you speaking Chinese I want to go a casino oh we have a translate here okay Casino yeah yeah yeah okay you are Chinese right China ni okay Jong I don't speak Chinese I'm from D yeah yeah oh I'm from Germany oh to small yeah I want to make a video about the city here oh yeah yeah okay so I think it's going to be only like a 10-minute ride maybe it's not that far away and the first impression here is quite nice big uh New Roads here everything looks very new and you can see everywhere uh they are still building you are photo Journal no no no no no no I'm not a journalist just a tourist everything here is Chinese I feel like I am in China and not in Laos feels like a China here here we are the big [Music] Casino oh there are big signs here life is a beautiful Journey don't ruin it with drugs no filming is allowed inside the casino yeah okay I know I know yeah okay uh how much money in uh Chinese low low low 30 hey but Chinese money is okay right uh you can change 100 okay what does that say 30 10 10 hey hey hey okay 40 okay hey okay okay it's okay okay sh thank you so much okay so yeah the main currency used here is a Chinese money luckily I still have Chinese currency with me because yeah I was in China earlier this year so I just paid a 40 Y for the 5minute ride and here I am look at this this is L have a look at this I'm getting really maau Vibes here uh oh there's a swimming pool even that looks interesting oh yeah earlier this year I have been to maau which is a special administrative region of China next to Hong Kong and maau is known as The Last Vegas of Asia it's full with casinos everything is very fancy very Posh very interesting and to be honest my first impressions here are it's very similar to a maau wow very very excited now to explore around here but wow have a look at this building here I think this is called the king's Roman Casino which is the main uh attraction the main building here in the in the city to be honest I'm not even sure how the city is called I only know the name of the The Zone here the Golden Triangle special economic zone but I'm actually not sure if this town here even has a name okay to be honest my first impressions here are it actually looks quite nice uh not at all like what I have imagined like I told you in the intro already the bad reputation about this area you hear so many things and I'm not going to say now that all these things are not true not at all uh but I'm just saying that my first impressions here are not at all as I would have expected I would have expected a very dodgy place where yeah a lot of illegal things are going on and usually when you're in areas where you know there's a high crime rate lots of illegal things are going on usually it feels a bit doy right and I don't have this feeling here at all at least uh my first impressions here are not at all like that and look at this this looks like a like a public pool here just in the middle of the city but yeah let's not judge too early of this place let's have a proper look around I'm going to spend a few hours here and then in the evening I'm going to return or late afternoon and then we're going to have a final Judgment of this area but to be completely honest with you I still don't feel 100% comfortable being here yesterday evening I read a lot about uh this Zone and I read about people being kidnapped here especially Western tourists because they usually uh have the most money so uh yeah you you read all these bad things about the place and actually like earlier this morning I thought oh do I really want to go there do I really want to risk going to a Dody place where there is a risk of being kidnapped although that's probably a very very very little risk but yeah according to all what I've read There is a risk of being kidnapped here so to be honest I'm still not 100% comfortable being here but first impressions like I said are very better than I would have expected I see lots of electric cars here so it feels very similar to China this is also interesting the the cars here don't have plates there are no number plates on not on all of the cars but on some of the cars here once again there's a Mercedes-Benz German car without a number plate not really sure why is that and I am back in sou Asia nobody is stopping at the zebra Crossing I mentioned that in a video a few weeks ago in Korea in East Asia where cars are actually stopping at zubba Crossings but uh not here in Southeast Asia I just have to go and this looks like a mall here maybe I can find a restaurant or something it's actually it's boiling hot here also walking around with a black T-shirt is probably not the best idea so maybe I can go somewhere inside with airon okay I found a supermarket and literally everything here is from China all these products are all from China and even the prices here are in Chinese un not a la money everything here is a Chinese maybe I can find my drink from China here the the coconut drink with a girl on the can oh yeah I also like this yogurt drink here from China when I was in China I drank this pretty often it's really delicious yeah all the the Coca-Cola the Fanta the Sprite cans are all written in Chinese this is so interesting a country inside a country okay I didn't found the coconut drink I was looking for but I found this one which I also really like are you Chinese no you're from la laar la ah okay how do you say uh thank you in [Music] La thank you and H H okay H sa is hello right hello okay okay that's in Chinese okay thank you so much bye-bye okay so uh not everyone here is from China but uh all the products here we from China okay we have a noodle restaurant here heu noodles and I think more restaurants down here literally every restaurant I see is a Chinese restaurant so I don't think I will be able to try Laos food today to be honest which actually would be nice I mean Chinese food I tried it already before in case you don't know earlier this year I spent quite some time in China I traveled all around the country I think I visited six or seven different cities in China so if you're curious to see my travels in China you can find the videos on my channel so this is the Laos writing and then it's always as well in Chinese and oh I think we have a Chinese ice cream shop here let's check it out and ice cream would actually be quite refreshing because the sun is boiling hot let's see if I can get ice cream here hello meow you have ice cream here ah ah 6 un ice cream and uh some drinks here oh here we actually also have the national uh currency from Laos which is called keep I think thank you very much let's give the ice cream a first try I'm trying to avoid the the Sun a bit to be honest because it is very very hot today and here we have another construction site Shanghai bio group Corporation limited be honest I need to be a bit careful not to get lost here because I don't have a working internet here so I can't use Google Maps this is also interesting the atmia you can either get Chinese R&B or you can get taibat you can't even get the local currency here it seems I'm wondering why Thai bat though maybe because tourists from Thailand are coming over and then they are spending money here so you can't even withdraw the local currency here oh yeah this looks actually very typical LA to me they have these uh Tuk TOS here which are on three wheels and I saw videos from Laos before like I said I've never been to Laos before and to be honest I still don't feel like I'm in Laos but I saw videos from Laos before some of my friends have been there before and I recogn Guys these tuktok from there okay I can't read any of these signs but I think I want to walk this direction looks like a shopping area most of it is closed at the moment which is maybe due to the fact that today is a weekend and it's a very hot afternoon but I see you see the the top of the roof there that looks like like a castle actually maybe that's interesting so let's walk over there and by the way you're currently watching the second episode in my new series where I'm traveling all around southeast Asia to visit places that have something to do with China like this one right here so if you are new here feel free to subscribe to the channel to follow the journey I have the feeling that it is a bit quiet today uh yeah like I said it is a weekend it's a very hot afternoon so not many many people are out in about like I am but I can imagine this is maybe like a little bar area yeah there's even a sign saying bar where maybe in the evening people can get together drink a few beers I see a hot pot place here and look at this they're building something very nice here something that looks very nice looks uh almost European and over there there's water so maybe there's going to be a very beautiful water front but yeah as you can see plenty of construction sites all around the place here oh and also I forgot to bring my sunscreen I know I'm going to be wet like a lobster this evening oh wow it is so hot here note to myself next time don't wear a black T-shirt when it's boiling hot like this what an interesting looking building right not sure of this is going to be a hotel doesn't really look like a hotel right maybe a casino as well very interesting I think already I would be curious to visit this place again in like 5 years see what this place has become judging from all the construction sites here I would guess that in a few years the place will look very different even bigger than it is right now here we have some buildings that are not permanent I think probably uh the houses of the construction workers here that's what I guess because yeah there's a huge construction site there how not sure if you're Chinese or from La this by the way is the building that has this roof that looks a bit like a castle which we saw from the distance from over there I mean I just asked the security guy over there if I'm actually okay to walk here and he said well he didn't say anything but he was just nodding the head so I think I am okay I actually would like to see if I can go to the river front people here very surprised to see me I can see that in the eyes oh it's okay you can keep going I walk behind you yeah you can really feel uh how much is being invested in this place there's literally construction site every few hundred meters here and really big construction site I have to say by the way if you enjoy this series that I'm doing currently traveling around southeast Asia visiting Chinese related places then uh leave the video a like then I can see that you enjoy the series okay I think I found a dead end I'm a bit lost I thought I can walk around there and then return to the casino but I think I can't continue here oh no so I have to walk all the way back yeah I feel like I don't belong here I'm in the middle of a construction site as a tourist by the way huge respect to all the workers here working in the boiling heat must be like 35° minimum how can I go to the Cao I want to go to the casino Casino I can walk here yeah yeah oh okay sh thank you actually the people here are quite friendly like many of them are smiling to me saying hello oh wow have a look at this this looks interesting yeah I mean this is still a construction site here but imagine how this place is going to look in I don't know when they will be finishing with this building but maybe in one or two years probably a casino resort something like that wow this is beautiful I really feel a bit like I'm in maau maau has very similar buildings huge casinos they look very fancy very Posh and it is the same here actually look at the big clock on there which is not showing the right time wow this is an interesting place to be honest I wasn't expecting something like this here I really thought this is going to be a very dodgy maybe also dirty City very typical stereotype dodgy place with a lot of uh criminal things going on but yeah I want to say something about this but I will say that at the end when we are having a final conclusion okay you know what guys I really need to rest in an air conditioned place so I'm actually going to enter the casino now I'm pretty sure there will be airon inside oh and there's a very interesting looking Chinese building over there which we will check out once I'm cooled down by the way here we are having a map which I'm not sure if this is the map of the town from right now or just a future map how this is supposed to look like but yeah we have the Mong River here and we have the Thailand side here I'm pretty sure this is not a real map because there's nothing on the Thailand side here which is not true so this is probably an AI generated map how this place is going to look okay so let's check out the casino here looks very fancy and Posh right wow actually I have good memories about casinos in China hello hello hello I was in maau earlier this year and I did some gambling there and I was actually quite lucky maybe I should try my luck here as well and these are the buses that we saw earlier at the immigration maybe I could have used them as well to get straight to the casino okay this is good here here's air condition much needed we actually just spoke to the security guy over there and he said I am allowed to take a video here in the arrival Hall just not over there where the casino area starts but uh yeah looks very fancy and Posh in here and if I would turn my camera around now there's the area where the casino starts which I'm not allowed to film but yeah there's a wall and then you can enter and then I'm guessing there's going to be a big gambling area the security guy just approached me and asked me if I want to go to the top where I can have a beautiful view feel like I am the only person here that is not from China yeah every tourist here is from from China right yes you also from China no from local here I'm la oh you're from La okay okay from V ven oh the capital yeah how is the capital is it nice yeah yeah you never been there I never been there no but I want to go one day that looks beautiful yeah thank you for telling me about this oh I didn't know it easier oh thank you so much can so I can go outside here right can can can okay okay oh wow I was sitting down there cooling down and then he approached me and asked if I want to come up here oh I wouldn't have found this place without the friendly security guy the LA people land us a piece of land while we were returned them with the city beautiful harmonious and peaceful Yow rented this place the area around here for 99 years to this Chinese company that is building all of this or funding all of this I can't really uh see here because uh even for me as a tall person the fence is literally on the height of my ice so I have to do like this but yeah I can hold the camera up so you guys can actually have the full view here looks like this yeah so this over there is at Thailand and you can see we have dark clouds over there in Thailand so maybe it's even raining over there but uh not here in Laos I'm wondering how much a night cost here that's actually also interesting I was researching hotels in the area on uh booking.com or on Agoda where I usually book my hotels and booking and Agoda are working all over over Asia I never had any problems using these two platforms but for this area I couldn't find a single Hotel neither on booking nor on aoda which makes me think why is that because there are obviously hotels in the area all these Chinese tourists that are coming here they must stay somewhere but you can't find any on booking or aoda so my guess would be that on Chinese hotel booking sites you can actually find hotels but not on yeah the internationally known ones like Agoda or booking.com so I couldn't find the hotel here so I don't know how much it might cost here excuse me y I'm just wondering how much is a room here in the hotel the room here looking the r here start starting from uh 600 600 R&B uh R&B but uh in the T about 3,000 B 3,000 B okay cuz I couldn't find uh online on booking or aoda cannot right they not so it's only on the Chinese Hotel side yeah yeah you see starting from 600 and 800 okay but why why can I not find it on booking or Agoda only on the Chinese sites in here they don't use uh the Agoda and website also they don't use it if you need to call you booking here you can call directly to our St all but yeah the cheapest room is a 600 which should be about $80 I think lights yeah you can go here and turn lights turn right over there yeah it is ah okay okay what is your name na'vi na'vi nice to meet you nice to meet you thank you so much for your help okay okay thank you bye-bye byebye okay so there's an area over there which is called Chinatown which is a bit bizarre because the whole area here feels like Chinatown you know but the area over there is called Chinatown and I'm curious to uh check it out also there's a music coming from somewhere over there so let's have a look and this is also the area that I mentioned earlier before we enter the casino also to be honest I was worried if I'm going no pict no picture okay over there can can yeah okay this was now a funny situation I was literally about to say that I'm actually surprised that I can openly film everywhere here because I was expecting that you know if it's a Dody area a lot of criminal things are going on then usually people don't really like uh people walking around with a camera and filming but uh I haven't had any problems so far today but literally as I am about to say that the security guy told me no video here but he was very friendly and he said I can come over here and then I can film again and currently behind the camera not visible for you there are two guys with sunglasses uh looking at me very uh weird so I think I will keep moving on and here we have uh the Chinatown area which uh looks very interesting I'm I'm a bit uh not want to say nervous but I'm struggling to find the right world now because uh there's a guy following me now with sunglasses so I don't want to point the camera in the direction now but uh okay he's not following me anymore now he's uh standing over there so he's uh he has a black T-shirt a black cap and sunglasses on on his hat and we even have a KFC here hello you I'm from Germany Germany Germany yeah where are you from from Ethiopia Ethiopia you know ethopia yeah yeah in Africa Africa the capital is Adis ADBA Adisa yeah yeah you from Frankfort no no no not from Frankfurt I'm from nor North Germany North Germany yeah yeah cool nice to meet you what are you doing here uh we are chilling you're here for Holiday tourist no we work here you work here this is uh the holid day holiday yeah so we are chilling how's the life here how long are you here for already 3 months three months three months yeah it's cool it's it's good yeah it's good can't complain how long have you been here just uh 2 hours 2 hours I just came here on my own really yeah yeah you're brave is it dangerous area here no no no it's not not dangerous cuz I heard many stories that this is dangerous area and many criminals here no it's co no it's good yeah it's good have a good time bro nice to meet you nice to meet you okay so there you heard it from people who are living here saying it is a nice area not a bad area but yeah unfortunately everything is a bit empty here which yeah once again I think or I guess it's because of the weekend and because of the time of the day but yeah one more note about the the guy who was uh following me and looking at me uh I think there was one building that I was not supposed to film when I was in front of the building when I left the casino that's also when the security guy approached me and told me I can't film here and then the guy who looked like he's following me for for a few meters he was I think the guard of that building so I'm not sure what building that was it was right next to the casino but uh yeah everywhere else so far no problems with the camera here I don't have the feeling that I have to film secretly like I'm openly walking around with my camera here all day uh already and no problems at all and yeah earlier today I was like H will I be uh able to film open lead there usually in dodgy areas you can't really just walk around with a camera like this but here so far with this one exception of this one building no problem and there's an interesting sign here long lift the friendship between Laos and China so they seem to be really uh yeah good connected I also know for example that China built rway tracks in Laos they also have a high-speed train here in Laos now which is from the Chinese yeah it seems like the relationships between Laos and China are really strong but yeah overall I have to say it's a very clean City everything is new and modern I feel at least so far during the day here I feel safe but yeah I just don't have the feeling of being allowed to be honest I feel like here I am in China the party still going on oh and there's a pool party going on here I think and yeah literally every person I saw here today except the workers are Chinese and of course accept the guys from Ethiopia who are also working here but all the tourists here seem to be from China okay I'm back in front of the casino now which yeah seems to be like the main center point of the town so I'm going to get a taxi now and then trying to cross back into Thailand so fingers cross that I will be able to cross back into Thailand otherwise I do have a big problem because literally all my things are in Thailand no I want to go to immigration Thailand Thailand okay ah uh immigration Thailand Thailand yeah yeah the boat the boat the boat okay okay I'm back at the immigration office and yeah hopefully no problems now leaving the country and then entering Thailand again but yeah I do want to mention one thing already now before I try to leave the country we might have another situation here of Western media reporting very bad about something related to China and then the reality is a bit different um I know some of you will go wild in the comment section now oh K you're being so naive you just spent two or 3 hours there you don't really know what's going on yes I agree with that I can't look behind the scenes of what's really going on at this place just by spending 3 hours here as a tourist I definitely agree with that but I also have to say that yeah I read all the the the news if you Google this place uh feel free to do it check it out on Google you will find lots of Articles or YouTube videos about this place uh which are very very negative this place is run by drug Lots run by criminals it's a place where a lot of uh drug trafficking happens and many illegal activities so I was under the impression uh that's why I was concerned to come here because I was under the impression oh it's going to be a very Duty area I'm going to feel unsafe there there's the risk of being kid things like this were on my head because of all these uh reports I was reading or watching on YouTube about this place but then I came here the reality at least from what I can see now after just 3 hours is very very different and you remember when you have seen my videos from China China in general is very negative uh portrayed in the Wern media and then when I actually visited China the reality was often very very different so I feel a little bit like this is maybe also the case here okay that was literally a one minute thing just got a stamp out of the country so now I'm basically in the middle between two countries so if Thailand doesn't allow me back in then I have to come back to Laos and see if they would allow me back in and yeah bye-bye Laos I'm sure I will be back for a proper visit okay and we are back on the Thailand side so let's see if I am allowed back into the country and I am back in Thailand and yeah this was actually a very very easy immigration process uh the officer didn't even ask to see the flight that I booked earlier that the other officer told me I have to book he didn't ask for a proof of 10,000 B nothing just got a new stamp I have a new 30-day Visa exemption now so very easy going and yeah I didn't see any dodgy things going on over there but do we really know what's going on there now after visiting this place for one afternoon as a tourist of course not and yeah now I'm very very curious to where read your thoughts about this place over there in the comments and if you haven't seen the previous video of the series where I visited a Chinese built ghost town in Malaysia then feel free to check out the video right here stay healthy stay positive and then see you on the next episode ciao guys
2024-08-12 09:47
