How Did a Myanmar Jungle Become Scam Skyscrapers?

Mariana van Zeller said scam compounds still run heavily in Myanmar. Crackdowns in Myanmar and Cambodia, especially Cambodia, sent some of the work toward Dubai and other places, but the compounds still exist a lot in Myanmar. Myanmar is a country at war. A large part of the country is controlled by different rebel groups, and the government does not really have much control of the region. A lot of the scam compounds are run by Chinese criminal gangs. The gangs pay a fee and give money to the rebels so the gangs can work and build scam cities. Mariana van Zeller said the gangs are paying for the war.

The scam city Mariana van Zeller visited was like a mini Macau, with high rises. Within a year or two, flat forest jungle in Myanmar turned into skyscrapers and casinos. To talk with one scam compound, the man who runs the city took the group out and showed the group around. He brought them to a karaoke bar with screens all around. Mariana van Zeller said the bar looked like the future, in one of the poorest countries on earth, with a war raging around it. Girls were completely dressed, and drugs and alcohol were served. Mariana van Zeller sang The Greatest Love of All. She said she thinks the singing sounds good, and that she really cannot sing. The next day the group interviewed the scam guy.

The night out was the way in. Rebel groups hold the ground, and the gangs pay the rebels to keep the scam cities running.