'Las Vegas in Laos': the riverside city awash with crime

Van Pak Len, Laos (AFP) July 14, 2025

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