Across the Mekong from Chiang Saen district in Chiang Rai province, on the Lao bank, lies an area called the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone.

A special economic zone is normally an area a state sets aside and grants tax and investment privileges, in order to draw foreign capital into a place that has not yet developed. In this case the terms went considerably further than that.

In 2007 Kings Romans Group, a Hong Kong-registered company, signed an agreement with the Lao government for a 99-year lease on a 10,000 hectare concession in Ton Pheung district, Bokeo province. Within that concession, 3,000 hectares were designated a duty-free zone, which is the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone.

What sets this place apart is who holds the running of it. The report by the Environmental Investigation Agency records that despite being part of Lao territory, the zone is run by the Chinese company, which holds an 80 per cent stake in the operation along with that 99-year lease, while the Lao government is reported to hold the remaining 20 per cent.

The casino opened in 2009, followed by a shopping and restaurant area known as Chinatown in 2013. It was in that area that investigators found what became the substance of this report.

"A small haven for wildlife crime."

Source: https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/EIA-Sin-City-FINAL-med-res.pdf

 

What Investigators Found in the Souvenir Shops

The Environmental Investigation Agency, working with Education for Nature Vietnam, sent a team into the zone in June 2014 and returned in February 2015. Their report, titled Sin City, was published in March 2015.

In one gift shop, investigators found seven tiger skins, four stuffed tigers, bottles and jars of tiger bone wine, a leopard skin, two ivory tusks and numerous carvings, shavings of what was marketed as rhino horn, pangolin scales and carvings from helmeted hornbills.

One restaurant advertised sauté tiger meat and tiger bone wine in English and Mandarin on the menu board outside. Visible from the street was a tank of wine labelled tiger bone wine, containing a near-complete big cat skeleton.

Another restaurant offered a range of wild meat dishes: bear paw, monitor lizard, pangolin, Tokay gecko, snake and turtle. Investigators observed a live python and a bear cub kept in cages by the restaurant entrance and the kitchen exit respectively, both of which were available to eat on request.

Inside the casino, on the periphery of the gaming floor, investigators observed shelves full of ivory products, including carved whole tusks, bangles, beaded bracelets, pendants and other trinkets.

At the zone's zoo, a short walk from the casino, 26 tigers and 38 Asiatic black bears were on display during the site visits. The head keeper said the plan was to acquire a total of 50 females for breeding, with the aim of producing 500 tigers within three years and up to 1,000 tigers in the long term.

Source: https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/EIA-Sin-City-FINAL-med-res.pdf

 

Much of the Merchandise Originated in or Passed Through Thailand

The same report records that many of the goods on sale in the zone did not come from Laos, but originated in or were trafficked through Thailand. It sets out three main points.

The first is ivory. Investigators found a pack described as ivory powder, often residue from the ivory carving process, with a label bearing Thai language characters, and one of the retailers confirmed that the products were carved in Thailand and trafficked across to Laos.

The second is tiger skins. Traders in the zone stated that six of the tiger skins for sale had been trafficked from Thailand and Malaysia via Mong La in Myanmar.

The third is live tigers. The report records that live tigers are trafficked into Laos from Thailand to stock tiger farms there, which in turn sell tiger parts and products on to Chinese and Vietnamese consumers.

The report also documents seizures on the Thai side, which indicate the route has been in continuous use. In 2008 Thai authorities intercepted a consignment of six tiger carcasses, three leopard carcasses and two clouded leopard carcasses, along with 275 pangolins. In 2013, sixteen tiger cubs were seized from a vehicle believed to be one of three travelling in convoy to Laos.

Source: https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/EIA-Sin-City-FINAL-med-res.pdf

 

US Sanctions, With a Thai Company on the List

On 30 January 2018 the United States Department of the Treasury, through its Office of Foreign Assets Control, designated the Zhao Wei Transnational Criminal Organization.

The statement records that the organisation is based in Laos within the Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone, and exploits the region by engaging in drug trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, bribery and wildlife trafficking, much of which is facilitated through the Kings Romans Casino located within the zone.

On wildlife specifically, the statement records that the organisation engages in wildlife trafficking of endangered and vulnerable animals, including Asiatic black bears, pangolin, tigers, rhinos and elephants.

The designation covered four individuals and three entities across three jurisdictions: Laos, Thailand and Hong Kong. Among them was a Thai national who is a director of King Romans Company Limited, a company itself registered in Thailand.

Source: https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sm0272