As the saying goes, “Ten bets and nine losses.” It is difficult for many people, to break free from gambling addiction, often leading to the end of their lives, and families being ruined.

Therefore, many countries have adopted strict control measures for gambling. This makes it difficult for some gamblers to fully enjoy themselves, so they turned to overseas countries, among which Laos is one of the preferred destinations.

In 2009, three gamblers went across the border to Laos to gamble. They planned to have a fun time and make some money, then go back home, but unexpectedly fell into a fraud casino. What will happen to them in this crisis?

Through this case, we will gain a deeper understanding, of the deadly frauds, at border casinos in Laos.

This case is adapted based on true events, and the case data is sourced from NetEase News and authentic videos. The characters in the text are all aliases.

1 Wagered Without Funds, Enjoyed Freebies, and Secured Continuous Wins at the Casino

In late November 2009, after several days of fatiguing journey, Huang Yi, Zhang Juan, and Lao Chen, led by tour guide Xiao Zhao, finally arrived at the Golden City of Boten, Laos.

Boten is an emerging city located at the border between Yunnan, China, and Laos. It is also a special zone established by Laos in 2003. Its main industries are gambling and tourism.

Although it is located in a remote place, the city buildings are extremely splendid, and casinos of various sizes are lined up in rows, which is the same style as many Internet gambling advertisements. At the sight of the legendary Golden City of Boten, all three of them were both surprised and happy and widely opened their eyes.

Speaking of Huang Yi, he was originally just an ordinary office worker from Sichuan, China. Although his salary was not high, his job was stable. However, he developed the bad habit of gambling, after graduating from college. Bet small first, then bet big, especially after hearing hearsay stories, about people getting rich overnight in casinos, he became even more anxious. One day in 2009, a phone call from an old classmate opened the door to a new world for him.

The caller was none other than the tour guide Xiao Zhao mentioned earlier. On the phone, Xiao Zhao was eloquent, saying that Laos had replaced Myanmar, as the preferred gambling destination in Southeast Asia. As a tour guide for a travel agency, he was responsible for receiving tourists, who went to Boten to gamble. If Huang Yi is interested, he can travel to Boten for free. Not only is the round-trip plane ticket free, but also the food and accommodation are fully reimbursed.

Huang Yi firmly believed in the words of his old classmate, packed his luggage, and went happily. After meeting Xiao Zhao, Huang Yi discovered that Zhang Juan from Beijing, and Lao Chen from Jilin in Northeast China, were also traveling with him. Lao Chen was not in good health and was slightly older.

Thereafter, the three of them, embarked on a journey to Laos, with the same dream of getting rich. But unlike what Xiao Zhao promised, they did not take a plane, instead, they took a private car, to the Yunnan border, and then transferred to a three-wheeled motorcycle, smuggled into Laos along a pathway.

When passing by the border between China and Laos, they saw a conspicuous warning sign, which read “Chinese citizens are strictly prohibited from entering casinos.” This is due to China’s principle of nationality jurisdiction. Chinese citizens are still under the jurisdiction of relevant Chinese laws and regulations, even if they gamble abroad. Pity they chose to ignore it.

When they arrived in Boten, they were instantly fascinated by the glamorous casino atmosphere. The receptionist immediately arranged for them to check into a five-star luxury hotel. The second and third floors of the hotel were the casino! Moreover, the hotel was liberal and gave each of them 100,000 yuan in chips, which made them more excited.

Seeing the liveness and excitement in the casino, the three of them went in. They usually lose more than win when gambling, but here it is like there was a divine hand helping, they were extremely lucky. In just a few hours, Zhang Juan won 110,000 yuan, Lao Chen won 80,000 yuan, and Huang Yi who bet the least, also won 20,000 yuan.

At that time, Zhang Juan still maintained a trace of rationality and wanted to return the chips and get out in time. However, when she took the chips to exchange for cash, unexpectedly, she was sternly rejected by the casino!

According to the "rules" of the casino, fresh players can withdraw cash, only after at least ten days. In other words, the money won within ten days, cannot be withdrawn at all.

Zhang Juan can be considered an experienced player, who has been to many major casinos. But it was the first time she had heard of such rules, and she couldn't help but wonder.

But she was not sure, perhaps the rules were different in various places? “Just play for ten days, it doesn’t matter,” after hearing the advice from others, Zhang Juan shrugged and gave up. The nature of a gambler kept her from waiting quietly. She had a fluke mind, maybe she would win more in ten days? Then she would take all the money she won away!

So, the other two, like her, completely ignored the strangeness and continued to gamble madly.

However, will they continue their previous luck and keep winning?

Please stay tuned for the next issue: "Detective" of "Qingqiao Safety"

Chapter 2

Trapped, Debt-ridden, and Abused: A Harrowing Experience in the Payment Room

  Zhang Juan's good luck did not last when she entered the casino again. The bigger the bet, the more she lost. Soon, not only did she lose the money she had won, but she also lost 10,000 yuan and even owed the casino 100,000 yuan. Huang Yi in another casino, also lost hundreds of thousands, and Lao Chen lost everything.

Logically speaking, now all the money is gone, they should stop gambling. However, gamblers’ psychology is that when they win, they want more, when they lose, they want to win their money back. Therefore, instead of stopping gambling, the three of them continued to advance chips from the casino, and placed high hopes on each bet, anxiously hoping for a chance to turn the table.

But their initial good luck never appeared again, in the next few days, each of them lost hundreds of thousands.

Since then, casino employees have started to tail them.

And follow them everywhere they go like shadows, whether they go back to the hotel, go shopping, or wander in the casino. Then they were asked to return the money immediately.

But they did not take any money here, and now they are penniless. Unexpectedly, when the casino issued an ultimatum, it also listed all the family information of the three of them, requiring them to notify their families to transfer money immediately, otherwise it would make it difficult for them and their families. This scared the three of them out of their wits!

It was only then that Zhang Juan, who had more social experience, realized something was wrong. Recalling all the experiences they have had since they embarked on the journey, from smuggling across the border to free food and accommodation, from giving chips to restricting money withdrawals to big losses after big wins... The piles and pieces all became increasingly obvious indications that this was likely a fraud!

When Zhang Juan told the other two about this, the three of them discussed, that they must not listen to the casino to contact their families.

Unexpectedly, when the casino found out that they were disobedient, they were immediately moved into "payment rooms".

And this is where the nightmare begins.

The three of them were sent to different “urge payment rooms". As the name suggests, this is a room, where the casino urges these gamblers, to pay back their money. These rooms are relevantly clean and tidy, with food and beverages provided. But every day, the casino people will intimidate them with words, urging them to ask families for money.

In the beginning, they could still brace themselves, and bear the pressure. But within two days, the urging person came with a stick and, if they didn't comply, they would be beaten.

Huang Yi was beaten with a three-edged wooden stick, his chest and back were covered with bruises, and the pain was as if it were burning. Zhang Juan, who originally had a flamboyant personality, was too nervous to say a word. The intermittent screams from the payment room next door, made her spend every moment in fear.

A few days later, all three of them, were transferred to the “forced-payment room.”

If the urge payment room is more of mental intimidation, the forced payment room is more of ruthless physical torture. The room conditions are quite harsh, more than a dozen people were held together, in a room of less than 8 square meters, and three meals were not guaranteed. Punches and kicks became everyday life, terrifying atmosphere permeated the surroundings.

Huang Yi has been knocked unconscious, and the intense pain is almost unbearable. He even began to doubt, whether he would die in this payment room. Every morning, the gamblers were ordered to kneel in a row, numbered off, and slapped in the face accordingly. Once when it was Zhang Juan's turn, she was so stunned that she fainted on the spot. The older Lao Chen was already covered in bruises and was barely breathing, with blood leaking from his knees.

Do you think the fearsome methods will end here? The fact goes far beyond this.,

People who could not pay, after spending ten days in the forced payment room, will be transferred to the “death payment room.” Compared with life in the windowless and hopeless death payment room, the physical injuries in the forced payment room were nothing at all.

More tortures await in the death payment room. For instance, gamblers were compelled to eat chili pepper, while drinking a whole bowl of boiling water, or tied up with ropes, hung upside down for a day and a night, and required to slap and kick each other heavily. Due to losing dignity and being brutally mistreated, every minute here is doubled suffering, the gamblers were filled with only helplessness and despair.

So, could these gamblers who are deeply trapped in the payment rooms survive?

Please stay tuned for the next issue: "Detective" of "Qingqiao Safety"

Chapter 3

The way home was full of danger, and they made a clean break with gambling addiction

Among the three, Lao Chen was the first to be sent to the death payment room. Not only was he tortured every day, but he was also frightened by the cruel methods and suffered a heart attack, which almost caused his death. Under this condition, Lao Chen was transferred to a rehabilitation room.

In that room, he can only get minimum food and water, and rough medical care. As long as his physical condition improves slightly, he will be sent back to the death payment room. Of course, once a seriously injured person dies, the casino does not have much patience. In most cases, it will directly send the person to the back mountain to bury them on the spot!

After being confined to the rehabilitation room, Old Chen gradually regained his strength. Although his body was weak, his mind became much clearer. Even if he had slightly regained his physical strength, he remained stiff and dared not move. After waiting in fear for several days, he finally escaped secretly while the guards were unprepared. Although he could barely walk, he never dared to look back, let alone stop. Only then did he save his life.

Immediately afterward, Huang Yi and Zhang Juan were also sent to the death payment room. Upon hearing this news, these two were so scared that their legs softened, and they knelt directly to the ground!

At this point, Zhang Juan, who had fainted several times, was on the verge of a mental breakdown, and Huang Yi had already lost his will. They completely compromised and repeatedly promised to call the family to ask for money.

The urging person ordered them to frequently contact their families. However, their families are not wealthy. Even if they begged and shouted hysterically, it could only bring about the families’ crying and helplessness. Even if they emptied their families’ property, they could not raise enough money. Every time the payment was delayed or raised too little money, it was inevitable to get beaten up.

At this point, the urging person told them that in addition to asking for money from home, they could also call relatives and friends. In exchange for their return, all they need to do is to invite five people to the casino to play.

Zhang Juan had no resistance and could only obey mechanically. She immediately called and sent out the invitation. But due to her gambling addiction, she had already lost her reputation in her hometown, and her family borrowed money from everyone she and her family knew, to pay back the casino. Who would believe and dare to care about her? Huang Yi was in the same condition, he didn't receive any response for several days.

It seemed to be a dead end before them.

Zhang Juan was desperate. In despair, she pondered over and over: instead of dying like this, why not put in a fight to report the case? Though she could be facing criminal penalties, she could at least have a chance to survive!

Her highly anxious emotions for the past few days gradually calmed down. When Zhang Juan called her family to urge money next time, she learned to keep an eye out for it, - until she saw the opportunity and spoke at a fast pace, telling her family to call the police immediately!

Zhang Juan was lucky. Her report has drawn significant attention from the Chinese police. After analyzing the situation, relevant departments immediately began to contact the Lao police, through international judicial cooperation and diplomatic channels promptly.

Finally, in January 2010, Zhang Juan and Huang Yi were able to embark on the journey back to their hometown.

Along the way, Huang Yi was in a trance, as if he had not yet recovered from the shock, while Zhang Juan was already in tears... In November 2009, when they came to the gambling city of Boten with the idea of getting rich overnight, now returned home in despair. In just two or three months, they have experienced the nightmare of almost losing their lives abroad, which was enough for them to think about, for the rest of their lives, - if they could come to their senses from their gambling spree, their future destiny might change.

After this case, the Chinese diplomatic department paid great attention to the relevant situation. Fraud casinos are not only suspected of extortion, kidnapping, and illegal enrichment, but also contribute to the development and growth of criminal organizations, which have had an extremely negative impact on society, and the personal and property safety of citizens.

After multiple negotiations, the Lao police ultimately collaborated with China, to thoroughly sweep the fraud casinos in Boten, and strengthen supervision of local casinos.

In this case, we should also see that it is the mind weakness of human greed and fluke, that leads to the repeated success of frauds.

If you want to avoid falling into similar traps, you must promptly be aware of your inner delusions in time and try to control your desires. Rationally evaluate the risks and consequences, before making any decisions. Especially when faced with high returns, you should stay calm, be wary of temptations, not trust strangers’ promises, and abide by laws and regulations.

For each of us, it is even more important to realize that, only by creating wealth through hard-working hands, rather than fantasizing about getting something for nothing, can we completely prevent the recurrence of such tragedies, and make our lives healthier, safer, and more stable.