A new report by the Karen Peace Support Network (KPSN) has condemned the Shwe Kokko casino project planned in an ethnic Karen territory along the Myanmar border. The report adds to the controversy that has surrounded the massive resort project since development began in 2017. The report, titled “Gambling Away Our Land”, claims that the Shwe Kokko project violates a host of development laws and exploits shaky regulatory infrastructure in Myanmar’s eastern frontier. It claims the project will disrupt and exploit local communities.
The Shwe Kokko project is being developed by Hong Kong-listed Yatai International Holdings Group in partnership with the Kayin State Border Guard Force (BGF), a formerly autonomous armed ethnic organization that came under the aegis of the Myanmar army (Tatmadaw) in 2010. The Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) has approved a USD 22.5 million first phase, authorizing 60 residential villas on 10.3 hectares of land. However, the KPSN report claims that initial construction will go far beyond what the MIC has approved. It also argues that the project’s 70-year lease, extendable to 99 years, violates Myanmar’s SEZ law, which only allows for 50-year leases, extendable to 75 years.
Critics doubt the integrity of the Yatai International and the BGF and fear displaced communities will not receive adequate compensation for their lands. They also worry the project will influence or even disrupt ongoing peace negotiations in Kayin State. “There are a lot of armed groups in the Shwe Kokko area. Conflict remains here. The development of the area by the Tatmadaw is detrimental to peace when holding peace talks, or federalism talks, and at the time when the needs of the Karen people cannot be determined by political aspirations,” the Mon News Agency quoted the Karen Peace Support Network’s spokesperson, Saw Lay Ka Baw, as saying.
Shwe Kokko will be the BGF’s largest casino project, but not its first. The BGF has partnered with Thai and Chinese entrepreneurs in many smaller casino resorts along the Moei River near the border town of Myawaddy. These resorts accept only Thai baht and are only accessible via informal ferry from the Thai Side of the border.
