Online scam movie ‘tarnishes’ Myanmar’s image

A Chinese blockbuster movie about trafficked online scammers has angered Myanmar's junta for allegedly portraying the Southeast Asia country in bad light.

"The storylines are related to Myanmar," the junta's consul-general in southwest China's Nanning told government officials in Guangxi region, China earlier this week, according to state newspaper the Global New Light of Myanmar.

The Chinese thriller "No More Bets" tells the story of a computer programmer who is trafficked to an unnamed Southeast Asian country and forced to work as an online scammer for a syndicate.

The movie does not mention Myanmar by name but its setting resembles the country's lawless northern reaches, where Beijing says its citizens are regularly lured or trafficked and forced to work scamming their compatriots online.

Despite only being released in August, "No More Bets" has become the third-most-popular film in China this year, raking in 3.8 billion yuan ($521 million) and super-charging online discussion about the dangers of visiting Southeast Asia.

The month before the film's release, China told Myanmar's junta to "root out" online scam centers in its lawless borderlands that target Chinese citizens.

The film has not been shown in Myanmar cinemas.

WITH AFP