00:00SE or should I say niow welcome to the
00:04special economic zone of the Golden
00:09Lao I'm not completely sure what country
00:11I'm in at the moment the special
00:13economic zone in Lao is a country within
00:15a country under the control of Chinese
00:17gangster jaia way a man who has been
00:19sanctioned by both the United States and
00:20China officially it's a place with
00:23casinos where Chinese and Thai people
00:25can come to gamble unofficially it's a
00:27criminal Empire that produces meth sells
00:30endangered animals and worst of all it's
00:32a place where people from around the
00:33world have been trafficked to run online
00:35romance and charity scams to trick
00:37desperate men and women out of their
00:38money it's a modern day slave state that
00:41many have died trying to
00:46escape this isn't China but here people
00:49paying R&B they use WeChat they speak
00:53Chinese there's almost no English
00:58spoken and there's a lot of Secrets
01:02here and because this is an area of so
01:05many secrets I'm gonna have to film this
01:07video a little bit differently the most
01:08videos that I make I think half of it
01:10might be shot on a cell phone
01:13instead and also I'm going to bring an
01:28go see here's a 24-hour Mini Mart again
01:32La the shelves are full of straight from
01:36China products like fresh off the boat
01:40fresh off the train I should
01:47noodles every single
01:53brand Chinese panty hose complete with
01:56the Russian model who was probably paid
01:58$50 for the photo shoot
02:01maybe the funniest thing is you even
02:03have Western Products but you have the
02:06China domestic version rather than the
02:08Lao version it's all written in Chinese
02:13Lao feels kind of unnecessary how is
02:20import I almost wanted to buy a hat to
02:23add to my collection
02:24but these are not hats for men these are
02:27hats for women Chinese women to protect
02:30their faces from the
02:33Sun granted I need that too I probably
02:35needed more than that but yeah I'm a
03:05so these are all Chinese
03:10cigarettes although here they're much
03:13more expensive than they are in
03:16China I know multiple people who went to
03:18China and then became addicted to
03:21cigarettes they're too
03:31if you stop to take a look at the
03:32license place on the cars driving around
03:34here you'll quickly see that most of
03:37them are from China like this one for
03:41yunan the province of King maybe the
03:44most beautiful Province in China it's
03:49La you'll quickly see that the plates
03:52China and I'm not even sure which
03:55province that is but I've seen plates
03:56from as far away as Shanghai from Wuhan
04:00places that are very far from
04:16Chinese which language English Chinese
04:36yeah I'm generally confused as to what
04:51John money China China China oh REM and
04:55B oh 500 REM and B okay so he's saying
05:00like $70 are most of your customers from
05:07China that's right oh okay
05:13okay this place is super
05:16weird everyone I talk to most of them
05:19are not from LA from Myanmar that guy's
05:24Vietnam another interesting thing I've
05:26noticed about this area is that most of
05:29the cars have a number on their
05:31windshield this one says
05:341313 and also a lot of cars don't even
05:37have a license plate like that one over
05:40there or this one but they always have a
05:45number this place is like one giant
05:48mystery still trying to figure it
05:51out you just have the impression you're
07:04this is amazing why he's saying
07:06Americans Taiwanese and shinan people
07:41yeah they use Y in inside they don't use
07:45any doar or any other
07:51currency recording the whole
09:11English Okay you're from La yes I'm here
09:15I'm driver can see driver why why are
09:17the Chinese controlling your
09:19country uhhuh why does China control
09:24country uh why Chinese China China
09:27they're not letting Americans
09:29and you understand oh very good you come
09:34here for good for trip for
09:47trip oh they say like this yeah
09:51wow I ask you but but not at all it is
09:56special this uh special
10:04driver he he was our driver and then
10:24understand so this area of Lao is known
10:28as t P or it's better known as The
10:33Triangle and the center of this area is
10:36a area with a giant Casino multiple huge
10:40Hotel buildings and when we tried to
10:42enter that area yesterday well as you
10:45saw we were rejected for very strange
10:49reasons with that in mind we're limited
11:051986 yeah yeah okay see you
12:38so focused on China here that I'm not
12:39really getting to speak to the Lan
12:42people seem pretty cool
13:16America okay okay okay nice to meet you
13:20mushroom it's good it's good it's
13:23good very nice to meet you very nice to
13:27you okay yeah see you later byebye
13:36okay felt like that was about to uh get
13:40intimate so over here it feels more like
13:42a regular town in Lao we even got big
13:45Buddhist temple over here which is
13:47common in both Thailand and
13:57LA during the years of the Communist
14:00Takeover in Lao Buddhism was eliminated
14:04from the country but it's such an
14:06integral part of laian culture just as
14:10Thailand but it quickly came back it
14:18this from money oh yeah that's I think
14:25wow is a real money yeah it's a real
14:33this is what I love about Asia can you
14:35imagine if there was a church which just
14:36had that had a giant tree of money
14:38hanging around that'd be gone the next
14:47Behold The Mighty makong
14:53River look like we got a little River
15:06yeah so this spot is the place where Lao
15:11China Thailand and Myanmar all meet
15:14technically China is a little more
15:15Upstream but let's not get into the
15:19detail one of the few drinking
15:21establishments in the area with the
15:22signs in Lao although they still have a
15:25sign that says Hing wanin which means
15:44where oh [ __ ] no way you don't want to
15:48order that one no disgusting you want
15:51you want to order some
15:52slugs I'm got to order
15:55one you're just curious
16:05this Tri border region is famous for one
16:07other thing it's also known for having
16:09the perfect climate for growing poppy
16:11seeds which are used in the production
16:13of opium and later heroin and thus this
16:16area especially starting during the
16:18Vietnam War when the US was at war with
16:22Lao became a Global Production Center
16:26for heroin and that continued it's still
16:29D and it's Infamous in China all right
16:32so this it's called a
16:34lar it's like the national dish of laau
16:38normally they do it with pork but here
16:40you got the fish PR be
16:43good and then you get a bunch of uh
16:46vegetables I'm actually not sure what
16:50but and then you got a plate of fried
16:54maggots can't go without the plate of
16:56fried maggots can you
17:07how is it it's one of those things where
17:11if you don't think about what it is it's
17:17awesome put the maggot in your
17:38once you reach this bridge you reach an
17:40imp penal barrier that you can't cross
17:42behind me everything ahead is the
17:45special economic zone a country inside
17:49country and just who runs that
17:52country I couldn't tell you but you
17:55can't immediately assume it's all
17:59the LA government has their own interest
18:01in creating an area where there's no
18:04law but definitely seems like they're
18:06covering something up
18:08because why are the Border guards all
18:13this is not a fence that we're going to
18:16hopping behind that might be the most
18:19dangerous place in all of Southeast
18:26okay okay beow please M you want a
18:31beer yeah my friend come
18:40Indonesia Indonesia Indonesia face same
18:48same can you speak one I can speak
20:27May go girl wow oh this for her okay oh
20:34my god wow congratulations
20:38congratulations oh and he's brought more
20:40maggots okay perfect just way she want
20:51food like a real loud man I'm going to
20:55maggots and immediately drink a beer
21:56okay there you go it's a bird
22:55Indonesia India indiaia
25:21what sorry she thinks you're like from
25:29can yeah like my sister have experience
25:37also but not in dating apps they just
25:40messaging you like they asking money and
25:43I don't know how it's like a charity
25:51okay and the scammers speak Indonesian
25:55yeah they speak Indonesian and sometimes
25:58B even know like the local Regional
26:03Indonesia little did you know they're
26:06all coming from right
26:54be a secret entrance a special
27:03economics I'm going to take one step
27:07in and I'm going to get out cuz I don't
27:10want to be captured and sold into
27:12slavery running scams on Americans for
27:25okay just found that on the spot Taxi
27:28Driver take us back to the main road
28:34okay you don't get scamed we might not
28:38choice even the taxi driver a scamers
29:44R it's like we're in
29:52Okay so we've stopped by a little place
29:55that has food froma punan is famous for
30:03food all the menus are in
30:06Chinese only Chinese Is Spoken Here I
30:10assume I have to pay in Chinese
30:15experience what do you think man I don't
30:17know I don't understand
32:50right that guy probably wouldn't care
32:54about I just don't want anyone to know
33:01make are you searching a Jan pleas no we
33:04yeah we came to visit to go to the
33:05casino Casino yeah we want to go to the
33:08casino but we're not allowed to
33:11go okay uh what you tell passport in
33:14here I have my passport in a room over
33:18there in a hotel right yeah Hotel small
33:22hotel working no no we're not working
33:25not working already we
33:27visit yeah because visit you are not
33:30enter for the Foreigner from American
33:33already start your project from America
33:35you are Indonesian that go not problem
33:38but they said she can't she can't
33:43Indonesia but can can you help us go uh
33:46because no first I talk to the security
33:49guard security guard is my friend okay
33:51and then I will explain you next time my
33:53VIP pass in the gates I'm HR
33:57yeah only B no search your job yeah we
34:00just we just want to visit seriously
34:02because you are not a good looking in
34:04the St man it's a poor
34:09country and you've been here for 5 Years
34:11also me no me 5 years you you been here
34:15years four 4 months 4 months already
34:18starting your work for Casino yeah has
34:21it this place has changed a lot 5
34:24years not Chang I'm go to the New
34:26Zealand next month next 2 5 month go
34:30okay New Zealand is beautiful country
34:33man it's very beautiful I'm not to speak
34:35Chinese because manipulate the all
34:37Chinese okay you speak La no no no need
34:42la la is something like the [ __ ]
34:48ismer I'm coming home send the message
34:53and you and me and all go to the pub
34:59all right so while walking around I've
35:02managed to make a few new foreign
35:04friends that seem to work here in the
35:06Golden Triangle and I wonder what they
35:10do but they've invited me to join them
35:17bar me and may are going to join and
35:20we're going to let you know how it is
35:41so much going on over
37:19oh man I had to step into the squatter
37:21toilet for a moment to get away from the
37:22earsplitting music in this club all I
37:26want to say is Jesus Christ I think I've
37:30stumbled into the mother of all human
37:41organizations all right that was the
37:44greatest clubbing experience that's the
37:48ever forre of our entire
37:52lives that was amazing this is the funny
37:54games you can have here in the Golden
37:59crazy all right let's go back and do
38:36here's my $20 Chinese hotel room inside
38:39of Lao which is typically used for who
38:45Chinese you got a little menu here you
38:48can order any kind of Chinese food that
38:51you want actually this is
38:53hansai Hunan food and and as we've
38:56learned most of the Chinese people here
39:02Hunan ah got Chinese
39:06tissues cheap little bottle oh that
39:09actually seems to be from Lao cheap
39:16water I mean hey for $20 not too bad of
39:20course we got a Chinese rice cooker
39:22right here here you even got like a huge
39:25tile of Chinese instant noodles if you
39:28want that if you get hungry at 2 a.m.
39:31not doing whatever you're doing
40:22right as much fun as we're having here I
40:25think it's time to get the hell
40:27out we need to find a taxi to take us to
40:30the quote unquote bus station it's not
40:35but we got to find a way back to the ti
40:38board friendly lady in the hotel was
40:40saying who of course is also from
40:44Hunan she said if we were able to go
40:46into the special economic zone we could
40:49cross into Thailand in a matter of
40:50minutes instead we got to take this
40:52convoluted route all the way back to the
40:57it's going to take like a few
41:12one made it to the bus station in
41:15whatever this town is called closest
41:19border now the only foreigners that I
41:22see are a bunch of French
41:25people at this point I think I'd rather
41:27see a bunch of French people than
41:29Chinese gangsters right here you have a
41:31list of all the different places in Lao
41:35to and they're not just places that are
41:38like an hour away we're talking like a
41:41whole day way away you've got pacon
41:45shamua Wang prang I've heard Wang prang
41:50beautiful and then you can even go all
41:52the way to the capital
41:55vienen I've been there before it's like
41:58a smaller less developed sleepier
42:00version of Bangkok and it's right on the
42:03tii border as is most of
42:14L so I guess this is a normal L
42:18town I greet people they say hi back
42:22there's just something off about
42:23everything in the Golden Triangle so
42:25even when I'm being friendly people had
42:28kind of a weird reaction as if I'm there
42:36them somebody just left their cow in the
42:46man what the past couple of days that
42:49was I feel like we accidentally did
42:56uncovered a special area that well I was
43:01first told that Americans Taiwanese and
43:03people from shinjang are not allowed to
43:08enter we then later found out that yes
43:11there are large amazing looking
43:14casinos that we didn't get to go to but
43:19uh after hearing what I did I think
43:21that's probably a good
43:22thing we found out that there is an
43:25unimaginable hellscape going on
43:27somewhere in that area people are being
43:33unquote probably forced trafficked into
43:36the area to run online
43:38scams on their own people Indonesians
43:46Vietnamese even Americans are being
43:49tricked into going there and running
43:51scams and it's kind of hard to ignore
43:53all the human trafficking of La women
43:55that was clearly going on some were
43:59looking a little too young to be working
44:02in the bar and it's hard to
44:04ignore that Lao has an area that is
44:08basically controlled by another
44:11country Chinese businesses very
44:14questionable Chinese
44:17businesses obviously run by criminal
44:19organizations and you
44:53I think this is a problem for all of us
44:56you know I think that area is literally
44:59a hell on Earth and something's got to
45:02be done about it oh ice cream ice cream
45:05ice cream okay cool high
45:13go high five can you reach can you reach
45:17can you reach up here up
45:21here did he reach is he
45:24reach I need I okay eat your ice cream
45:29yeah very good have a nice day good good
45:43byebye and I guess a good way to close
45:46off this monologue is
45:49ultimately what's going on here is in
45:52the hands of the people of
45:56because you know there's also your
45:58people that are being
46:00trafficked and while it may be Chinese
46:03gangs that are doing all the damage in
46:06area it's your government that has
46:09allowed that area to
46:12exist there's literally people living in
46:15slavery in that area running scams
46:19world I don't know what else to say I'm
46:23but if this video does some kind of good
46:39happy and now we're back in the
46:42beautiful country of Thailand so Mike
46:45what did you think of the Golden
46:47Triangle what did you think of China's
46:49special economic zone in La H I don't
46:52know maybe it's kind of what did you
46:55think think about visiting the place
46:57that potentially thousands of your
46:58countrymen are imprisoned at the
47:00moment I don't even know about that yeah
47:05maybe can you make a good brief for
47:09me and I also want to say that a lot of
47:11the footage that we got for this video
47:13would not have been possible without
47:15Ma's help so let's all thank
47:20go and after this I'm not sure where
47:23we're going but anyway I'll see you
