Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | June 2012 16 Representatives of Joseph Jackson, Michael Jackson’s father and at one point named as a Happyland investor, declined to comment, referring only to a 27th January, 2012 press release in which Mr Jackson said he was declining to proceed with any further investment in the project after conducting due diligence. Feature a project nobody really wants to discuss— not even the company itself. HappyLand’s phones and the phones of theKhangThonggroup,theparentcompany, went unanswered or were answered by people who had nothing to say. Emails sent received no replies. Christine Tran, an employee at HappyLand Media, claims that her company is not involved with the HappyLand project, despite the fact that HappyLand Media’s website ( http://www.happylandmedia.vn ) is the website for the Happyland project. Tran provided a number that did not seem to lead to HappyLand and did not respond to follow-up emails seeking clarification. Most companies listed as HappyLand partners chose not to talk about the project. World-renowned casino architect Paul Steelman, who was commissioned to be the designer and architect for the 999- room HappyLand Hotel, declined to be interviewed, even though HappyLand is still featured on the ‘In Design’ page on the Steelman Partners website “Happylandisgoingtobeahugefinancial success,”Mr Steelman had proclaimed earlier in a 2011 press release. Miranda Fong, office administrator, Steelman Architecture Asia, offered the following response to an emailed question about the current state of HappyLand: “I believe we are not in the position to answer the question: is the project still on? as we are not the owner of HappyLand.” Representatives of Joseph Jackson, Michael Jackson’s father and at one point named as a Happyland investor, declined to comment, referring only to a 27th January, 2012 press release in which Mr Jackson said he was declining to proceed with any further investment in the project after conducting due diligence. One person associated with the project did agree to speak off the record. The professional, who is well acquainted with HappyLand and Phan Thi Phuong Thao, chairwoman of Khang Thong, said that for all intents and purposes the project is dead. It is out of money and not paying its bills, has lost the support of its main investor and its outside service providers, and has lost key employees. “It’s completely moribund at this point,” the source said. “She doesn’t have much to show for the millions of dollars spent.” According to the source, Ms Thao got her start in the sand and gravel business and made a good deal of money in the process. She was going to expand and build an industrial park, but the government convinced her to develop an amusement project instead. She then began to enlist a bevy of of major international firms to help her in creating HappyLand. The list is impressive. In addition to Mr Steelman, she also hired or had some association with: Hill International, the US-based construction management firm;