I have personally seen the transformation of a village in Laos from being farming based to casino driven. People have sold their farms which have become Chinese

I have personally seen the transformation of a village in Laos from being farming based to casino driven. People have sold their farms which have become Chinese banana plantations (mostly for export as I don't see fruits from those farms in the local market). Most of the people are now working in/around the casino. If you are good at dealing cards, are presentable and can speak even basic Mandarin, you have made it. There is social transformation too. During my initial time there, people used to walk to each other's houses and chat. Now most are out drinking in bars that sprung up along with the casino or playing with their mobile phones. Whole lot of young people are doing drugs with the new cash influx. More drunk driving seems to be happening - last week a young boy died in an accident riding his motorbike while being drunk - all his friends were drunk too. Such changes are probably happening elsewhere too but the velocity of change I have seen there makes it very stark.