On December 24, actor Wang Xing, as he usually did, clicked on a casting notice in a WeChat group.
The casting notice was for a short – drama project, with the filming location set in Bangkok. Wang Xing got in touch with Yan Shiliu, who identified as an actor coordinator. Soon, he was informed that he had passed the audition.
At first, Wang Xing was skeptical about the filming location. He specifically checked the production company mentioned in the casting notice. After confirming the authenticity of the information, he finally decided to trust it. For a grassroots actor like Wang Xing, even if it meant taking a risk, he was reluctant to miss an opportunity to become famous.
Three days later, late at night on January 3, Wang Xing took the red – eye flight arranged by the other party and flew from Shanghai Pudong to Bangkok, Thailand.
When he arrived in Bangkok, it was already 3 a.m. on January 3. Seven hours later, he lost contact with his girlfriend Jiajia, who was in China.
On the evening of January 5, Jiajia posted a plea for help on Weibo. After being reposted by several celebrity friends, public opinion began to gain momentum. At noon on January 7, the Thai police announced that they had found Wang Xing.
It only took four days for Wang Xing to be rescued from being out of contact. It wasn’t that the Thai police were extraordinarily capable. Instead, it further demonstrated that there was a set of unspoken rules operating steadily and smoothly behind this incident.
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Uncle Bao said that he had carefully reviewed the investigation process of the Thai police, and it could be described as smooth sailing all the way.
The Thai police retrieved the airport surveillance footage, which captured the scene of Wang Xing going through immigration security alone. Then, they questioned the driver who had picked up Wang Xing from the airport.
The driver said that Wang Xing had ordered a car on Grab, paid 5,000 Thai baht, and specified that he wanted to go to the Mae Sot border in Thailand.
It should be noted that the distance from Bangkok Airport to Mae Sot is 510 kilometers, and it takes about 7 hours to drive. The journey includes 380 kilometers of expressway, and there are a full 80 kilometers of bumpy, rugged, and deserted mountain roads.
Wang Xing was unaware of the dangers of the journey. He even posted on Moments: “A booming start in 2025.”
Wang Xing was taken to a Makro mall in Mae Sot by taxi. Then, the Karen Border Guard Force of Myanmar picked him up in a gray Toyota pickup truck and took him to the other side of the Moei River:
Myawaddy Town, Myanmar.
Subsequently, he entered the Apollo Park in Myawaddy. The company that received Wang Xing paid 2,000 Thai baht in transit fees to the border guards.
Between Myawaddy in Myanmar and Mae Sot in Thailand, there are vast stretches of barren grasslands. The border is demarcated along the Moei River, and the narrowest part is only over ten meters. Although barbed wire is erected along the riverbank, it is less than one meter high and is virtually useless.
Wang Xing was quickly released from the Apollo Park. On the afternoon of January 7, the Thai police picked up Wang Xing at the border checkpoint and transported him to Bangkok in a police aircraft. They defined this incident as:
A human – trafficking case.
The true identity of Yan Shiliu, who had deceived Wang Xing, also came to light. His real name was Yan Wenlei, from Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province. He initially worked as a group leader at the Wuxi Film and Television City and later moved to Hengdian, where he had engaged in photography, sound recording, and directing.
Yan Wenlei also had a film – and – television company in China called Yanshi Tianyi. His experience in the entertainment industry served as a cover for his deception.
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The Apollo Park that Wang Xing entered is located in Shwe Kokko, the northern part of Myawaddy.
Shwe Kokko is now the world’s largest fraud park. Here, there are prosperous casinos, hotels, KTVs, and nightclubs, providing entertainment and pleasure for the senior executives of telecom – fraud enterprises and visiting gamblers.
Beyond this prosperity lies the telecom – fraud work area swallowed by the night. The buildings there are low – rise, and the surrounding walls have no windows. Even if employees work overnight indoors, it cannot be seen from the outside.
Eight years ago, Shwe Kokko, like most rural areas in Myanmar, lacked electricity and proper roads, with only corn and rubber fields.
At the end of 2016, a Hong Kong – based enterprise, Asia Pacific International Holdings Group, approached Saw Chit Thu, the military chief in charge of Shwe Kokko, and outlined a $5 – million investment plan:
Asia World City.
They went together to Pa’an, the provincial capital of Kayin State, to meet the top official. However, the $5 – million investment far exceeded the approval authority of provincial – level officials. Only the Myanmar Investment Commission’s intervention would be in line with the procedures.
Later, Hong Kong media traced the registered address of Asia Pacific International and found that it was just a warehouse.
Asia Pacific International soon established a new company in Myanmar – Asia Pacific Myanmar Holdings Group. In the registration materials of the Myanmar Department of Commerce, Asia Pacific Myanmar is a joint – venture enterprise. The major shareholder is a Chinese who had just obtained Cambodian nationality:
TANG KRIANG KAI.
Tang Kriang Kai’s citizenship was granted by an order of the Cambodian royal family. In Cambodia, as long as one donates more than $250,000 to the government, they can obtain citizenship.
He holds 67% of the shares of Asia Pacific Myanmar; and 20% of the shares belong to the chief of the border guard force.
Asia Pacific Myanmar leased land from the local government for 70 years and claimed to the outside world that this was a special economic zone. The investment plan also changed from $5 million to a huge smart – city plan – covering an area of 18,000 acres, with a total investment of $15 billion, including an airport, luxury mansions, luxurious hotels, casinos, and industrial zones. It was expected to become Myanmar’s technology hub within 5 – 10 years.
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Before it became a byword for the gambling and fraud zone, Shwe Kokko had been placed high hopes on，and its story was closely intertwined with the dramatic life of its pioneer.
The Cambodian businessman TANG KRIANG KAI mentioned earlier is actually a middle – aged man with a strong Shaoyang, Hunan accent. His real name is She Zhijiang, and he also has another name, She Lunkai.
A friend of Shouye, who does business in Myanmar, was once an investor that She Zhijiang tried to woo. This friend had visited She Zhijiang’s large villa in Yangon. She Lunkai was wealthy and generous. Moutai was a standard feature at his banquets, and he even hired several Chinese chefs.
Before the Shwe Kokko project, She Zhijiang’s main business was setting up private lottery platforms in the Philippines to lure young people into gambling.
In 2014, the Yantai Economic and Technological Development Zone Court in Shandong Province disclosed a judgment. She Zhijiang was convicted of illegal business operations and thus became a fugitive.
During his flight to the Philippines, She Zhijiang jointly invested with local Chinese and registered a company named Chong Hua, organizing more than 150 foreign nationals to participate in online gambling.
The Shwe Kokko project in Myanmar became an opportunity for She Zhijiang to turn his life around. He adopted the name She Lunkai and began to gain social recognition.
In September 2017, the China Overseas Chinese Merchants Federation held a World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention in Yangon, Myanmar. The most crucial purpose of this convention was to promote the Asia Pacific Shwe Kokko project.
The signing ceremony between She Zhijiang and his Myanmar partners became the most eye – catching part of the convention.
Mr. Xu, who attended in the name of the president of the China Overseas Chinese Merchants Federation, along with reports from authoritative media, provided strong endorsement for the Shwe Kokko project.
On the official website of Asia Pacific International, it was once recorded that another key figure in the company was Zhong Baojia, a Malaysian – Chinese from Quanzhou, Fujian.
Among Zhong Baojia’s many identities, quite a few were related to overseas Chinese merchants. It was also after partnering with Zhong Baojia in Asia Pacific International that She Zhijiang began to be frequently active in various overseas Chinese merchant events. Later, She Zhijiang even became the vice – president of the China Overseas Chinese Merchants Federation and a cover figure of the Overseas Chinese Merchants magazine.
In this exclusive interview, She Zhijiang beautified and packaged his years of gambling – related experiences as game development. He said that his trip to the Philippines was also an opportunity that came up through online chatting.
He claimed that he learned that a Fujian boss had made a fortune by doing game development there. And with his courage and generosity, he quickly established a foothold there.
In She Zhijiang’s account, the location of Shwe Kokko in Myanmar was introduced to him by an old overseas Chinese in the Philippines as a way of repaying a favor.
All these mysterious and fabricated experiences fell apart with a single statement. In August 2020, the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar stated that it supported Myanmar in dealing with Asia World City.
One year later, the International Criminal Police Organization issued a red notice for She Zhijiang on suspicion of illegal operation of a casino.
In 2022, She Zhijiang, who was invited to a private banquet at a Japanese restaurant in the suburbs of Thailand, was arrested by the Thai police.
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In September 2017, Asia Pacific signed an 1.8 – billion – yuan general contracting contract with a certain company in Yangon. Due to a lack of funds, Asia Pacific then entrusted the first – phase construction to another company.
Thousands of Chinese workers entered Shwe Kokko from Thailand and occupied four floors of the Deyue Juxin Hotel.
Next to the construction site in Shwe Kokko, fast – food restaurants and supermarkets serving Chinese workers emerged. The bulldozers and concrete mixers parked on the construction site were from Sany Heavy Industry and XCMG. Building materials and electricity were all provided by Thailand.
These Chinese workers could never have imagined that what they were building would later become the world’s largest telecom – fraud park.
Several months after the project started, the Shwe Kokko project was approved by the Myanmar Investment Commission. The approved plan was neither 15 billion nor 5 million, but 22.5 million US dollars, only including 59 single – family villas.
Soon, the Shwe Kokko project was reported by local villagers. Because they had neither received reasonable land compensation nor job opportunities.
More importantly, the villagers began to realize that the so – called high – tech city was just a pretense:
What kind of high – tech industry would have to be carried out in this desolate place?
The core industry that Asia Pacific intended to set up in Shwe Kokko was online gambling. At that time, gambling was still illegal in Myanmar.
Under huge public pressure, the Myanmar government announced the suspension of the Shwe Kokko project. But in fact, the project did not stop, and thousands of workers did not leave either.
By the end of 2019, south of the approved villa area, more than a hundred acres of illegal buildings were erected, and a new city was born.
The first company to move in was a company named Tianxia. Most of the companies on the same – batch list were named something like XX Entertainment, XX Gold Technology, XX Entertainment Technology.
In order to attract investment, Asia Pacific specifically registered a company in Beijing, with Ma Dongli as the legal representative.
Their main task was to promote Asia World City and attract investment through WeChat official accounts and other means.
This new city was filled with huge promotional posters on the billboards along the roads. Chinese slogans were hung everywhere in the streets and alleys:
Build a harmonious city together; resolutely put an end to human trafficking.
This city even had its own unique currency.
In order to highlight the high – tech nature of the city, Asia Pacific Myanmar introduced the Singapore – based cryptocurrency APP fincy, which was intended to be used for all payments in transactions, gambling, and rewards.
Now, members of the park mostly use USDT issued by Tether company, a cryptocurrency that can be exchanged for US dollars at an equivalent value.
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After She Zhijiang’s Asia Pacific developed Myawaddy, more capital flowed in one after another. Most of these investors withdrew their funds from Sihanoukville in Cambodia. After the gambling ban was issued in Sihanoukville, various capitals gradually left.
The decline of Sihanoukville contributed to the rise of Myawaddy.
In 2020, Wan Kuok -koi, a Macau native, developed an industrial park named Saisigang in Myawaddy in the name of the East – America Group. The name implies an intention to surpass Sihanoukville.
Almost at the same time, Yu Jianjun, a Thai – Chinese, in the name of the Trans – Asia International Group, jointly with local armed forces, developed the Taichang Park in the southern part of Myawaddy.
After the completion of investments in various large and small parks, a number of casino – related enterprises began to move in one after another. To maximize profits, this time they simply retained only the most profitable businesses:
Online gambling and phone fraud.
Friends in Myanmar said that the Shwe Kokko Park is completely Chinese – style:
People who enter think they are in China.
There are many people like Wang Xing who are lured here by tricks. The Thai police’s judgment is quite accurate. This is no longer just telecom fraud; it’s human trafficking.
However, Myawaddy is different from what the outside world imagines. Although there are several layers of sentry posts outside, inside, it is not managed by violence. Especially in Shwe Kokko, which was developed the earliest, the management of most parks is even “quite regular”. Nominally, people can come and go freely in many parks, and behaviors such as beating and kidnapping are not encouraged because there is no need for them.
Uncle Bao, a good friend of Shouye, said that they mainly rely on money to keep people.
Fraud here is a complete and segmented industrial chain. There are special “pig – butchering plate” scams, those targeting housewives, and those specifically for the European and American markets… Fraudsters closely follow social hot topics and cater to personal preferences, tailoring fraud scripts for people of all ages, professional backgrounds, and educational levels.
Many Chinese people were initially deceived into coming here, but after systematic brainwashing or actually making money, they voluntarily stayed.
Burma – based Chinese people even regard Myawaddy as a legitimate industrial park. A friend said that seven or eight out of ten young – generation Burma – based Chinese have worked in Myawaddy.
For local Burmese people, the park is even a paradise. There is no internal unrest, no power outages, a stable environment, access to the Internet, and relatively more freedom. Earning 100,000 yuan a year is not a dream. For those who are a bit smarter and more capable, they can earn 200,000 – 300,000 yuan a year.
The dormitories in Shwe Kokko are very similar to university dormitories, with beds on top and desks below, and there are also mattresses. Employees are even allowed to use mobile phones, and in most cases, their personal freedom is not restricted.
In recent years, some young Chinese people have also actively come here. There are even entire villages in Fujian and Hunan coming here to “work”.
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A Burmese businessman friend of Shou Ye helped rescue a girl from Jiangxi a few months ago.
The girl graduated from an English major and was a piano teacher. She came here after hearing from a friend that there was a mineral cooperation project here. As a result, just like Wang Xing, she was controlled as soon as she got in.
She was sent to the Xintaichang Park in Myawaddy, a relatively remote park whose “boss” is from Taiwan. The girl’s supervisor thought she had development potential and wanted to train her for business.
It was not until the girl contacted her family via E-mail to report the situation here that she was beaten for the first time. In most parks in Myawaddy, people with development potential are generally not beaten.
The girl’s family contacted the Burmese Central Liaison Department and the embassy, but to no avail. The embassy has no law enforcement power and the Burmese government cannot control Myawaddy.
In desperation, they managed to find an intermediary and started the process of ransoming the girl. The general market price for ransom in the park is 1.2 million Thai baht. This money is used to bribe people in the park, armed organizations and intermediaries specialized in rescue work.
The down payment of 200,000 yuan was quickly transferred. The intermediary converted the RMB into Thai baht and then into Burmese kyat.
However, the girl’s supervisor was reluctant to accept the ransom, believing that the girl was worth training. The ransom was converted back into RMB and returned to the family.
In desperation, the intermediary called the girl’s family and asked her mother to pretend to be a heart patient in bed and stage a scene of looking for relatives.
Generally speaking, such a scene will stir up public opinion and the park will intervene.
The same principle applies to the quick rescue of Wang Xing. Netizens said that in the whole rescue process, Wang Xing’s girlfriend made the greatest contribution. She contacted her celebrity friends to help forward the message in a timely manner, triggering an instant public outburst. What the telecom fraud parks fear most is public opinion.
Most people who escaped from Myawaddy also used this method.
Later, the park finally relented. The girl’s family paid a ransom of more than 340,000 yuan. The park also has a fixed process for releasing people, providing one-stop service:
Taking the person all the way to Bangkok Airport.
The reason for taking people to Bangkok Airport is that some young people ransomed by their families are actually reluctant to leave Myawaddy.
Some people even bought tickets to Dubai right after being taken to Bangkok Airport. As we all know, Dubai is now a new paradise for telecom fraud practitioners.
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After She Zhijiang was imprisoned, his partner Suo Qidu would still hold a return prayer Dharma assembly for him every year. In the eyes of local people, She Zhijiang is the pioneer and benefactor of Myawaddy.
In Myawaddy, Chinese capital, the Burmese government army, armed organizations, the Thai Immigration Bureau and even ordinary people working there have formed an interest alliance, which seems loose but is extremely solid.
It is even more difficult to trace the convergence of these forces in Myawaddy, which can even be traced back to the British conquest of the Burmese Empire in 1885.
Ta Kung Pao has even speculated that even if the water and power network in Myawaddy is cut off like the crackdown on telecom fraud in northern Myanmar, it will be useless. Myawaddy has its own independent water and power system.
As Burmese friends said, many telecom fraud parks in Myawaddy do not actually encourage violence and kidnapping, because they have a more powerful means to control young people:
The dream of getting rich.
In the eyes of these brainwashed young people, the dream of getting rich that cannot be satisfied in a normal society is likely to be satisfied in a grey industry paradise like Myawaddy.
The last line of the movie Tears of the Sun also explains the indestructibility of Myawaddy:
Evil prevails because good people do nothing.
