Kearrin Sims
James Cook University, Cairns, Australia
Keywords: Laos, casinos, expulsion, Chinese tourism, special economic zone, Greater Mekong Subregion
DOI: 10.5509/2017904671
Following the extraordinary wealth generation of casinos in Macau and Singapore, governments and non-state actors across Southeast Asia have developed gambling establishments as a means of fast-tracking economic growth and stimulating national development. Yet, here and elsewhere, casinos have been heavily criticized for their association with immoral behaviour, problem gambling, corruption, and organized crime. In this article, I focus on two casinos in northern Laos to address two research questions. First, I consider how casinos have come to exist within the remote border regions of one of Asia’s least developed countries. I discuss vice economies within the Golden Triangle region, multi-actor aspirations to boost transnational connectivity within continental Southeast Asia, strengthening political-economic relationships between Laos and China, and Government of Laos efforts to use foreign investment as a mechanism for increasing governance capacities in borderlands. Following this, I critically analyze the relationship between casinos and development in Laos. I focus specifically on the multifarious effects of casinos on the lives and livelihoods of local communities to argue that casino development has been informed by logics of expulsion and the establishment of new predatory formations. To make this argument, the article draws on four fieldwork visits to each of the casino sites between 2011 and 2015, desk-based research, and interviews with local residents, casino staff, and members of the Government of Laos.
赌上未来：老挝的赌场飞地、发展和减贫
关键词： 老挝，赌场，驱逐，中国旅游业，特别经济区，大湄公河次区
随着澳门和新加坡赌场创造出惊人财富，东南亚各国政府和非国家行动者纷纷效仿，以开发赌博场馆作为实现经济快速增长和刺激国家发展的一种手段。然而，不论是在这里还是别处，赌场都因其与不道德的行为、问题赌博、腐败及有组织犯罪的关联而受到严厉批评。我在本文中就两个研究问题主要关注了老挝北部的两个赌场。 首先， 赌场为什么会在亚洲最不发达国家之一的国家的偏远边境地区设立？在此我讨论了金三角地区的不道德经济、多方力量试图加强东南亚大陆内的跨国联系的强烈意图、加强老挝与中国间政治经济关系，以及老挝政府尝试利用外国投资作为一种提高边境地区治理能力的机制的努力等问题。随后，我批判性地分析了赌场是怎样、用哪些方式以及为谁而给老挝带来了发展。在此，我具体关注了赌场对本地社区的生活和民生的多样化的影响，提出赌场的发展是受到驱除的逻辑以及新的掠食性形构的创建的影响的。为支持此论点，本文利用了2011年到2015年间对两个赌场实地的四次田野考察访问、书面研究以及对当地居民、赌场员工和老挝政府人员的访谈。
Translated from English by Li Guo