Burmese Warlords, Gangsters & A Scam Utopia

The Underworld Podcast

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 871 Ratings

🗓️ 9 September 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Buried on the border of Thailand and Myanmar, Shwe Kokko is a shimmering city of skyscrapers, casinos and fresh-laid highways. But peek a little closer and you’ll see why it has become one of the world’s criminal capitals — from razor-wire fences to keep in thousands of enslaved scammers, to armed rebel guards and a theme park where Chinese high-rollers can shoot military-grade weapons.Shwe Kokko is a gangster’s paradise. But not any gangster: the brainchild of a Burmese warlord and his Triad kinpin partner, it is an emblem of Golden Triangle lawlessness — where drugs, scams and slaves are bartered like chickens, and where billions of dollars disappear into a gigantic dark market. And this year, it has even helped start an international conflict. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's December 24, 24 in Shanghai, China.
0:04.8	An actor Wang Xing is scrolling on his phone.
0:08.6	Wang, stage name Jing Jing, is an up-and-comer, 22 years old, with credits and some pretty
0:15.3	big TV shows.
0:16.9	But he still needs work.
0:18.8	And when a friend shows him a group on the social media app,
0:21.4	WeChat called Sunan Professional Actors Group, Wang joins, and he hopes for the best.
0:28.0	Shortly after, Wang gets a DM.
0:30.7	Somebody calling themselves Yan, an acting coordinator for G.M. Grammy,
0:35.7	the biggest entertainment group in Thailand. Record an audition tape, Jan tells him. I think I've got a job for G.M. Grammy, the biggest entertainment group in Thailand.
0:38.3	Record an audition tape, Yan tells him, I think I've got a job for you.
0:42.3	A couple days later, Wang does just that, with his girlfriend Jia Jia on camera tutor.
0:49.3	Yan doesn't even wait a data message back. You've got the job. But here's the thing. It's in Thailand,
0:55.9	and we don't have all the details yet. Wang backs out. It schemes a little sketchy. Besides,
1:01.7	who is Yan anyway? But Yang keeps pushing, keeps telling Wang how great he is. How if he takes
1:07.6	the job, there'll be way more to come. In media, flattery and the promise of an income will get you everywhere.
1:14.4	Okay, Wang says, I'll come to Thailand.
1:17.2	On Jan 2nd, 2025 around 9pm, Wang departs Shanghai at Pudong Airport for Bangkok,
1:23.8	and arrives in the Thai capital around 2 a.m. local time.
1:33.3	At 3.40 a.m., he climbs into a gray Toyota Altis, provided by G.M. Grammy, and he heads out on a mega journey across the night, almost 300 miles north.
1:39.3	Six hours later, they arrive in Mysot, a small city, separated from the Burmese city of
1:45.6	Miyawadi by the Moai River.
	...

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