Expat "mumfluencers" are taking to TikTok to sing the praises of life in Saudi Arabia and to extol the virtues of its new NEOM megacity, filming their idyllic lives spent picnicking by turquoise waters and shopping in gleaming malls.

"If you have children, Saudi Arabia is the best place," Aida McPherson, an Azerbaijani born in London, told her almost 60,000 followers as she filmed her daughter in traditional Saudi dress on a shopping trip.

Around a dozen expat mothers have posted similar glowing accounts of the far-from-finished NEOM project in the desert championed by the kingdom's de-facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, despite concerns about continued rights violations in the country and alleged abuse of migrant building workers.

NEOM is a planned $500-billion futuristic megacity in northwestern Saudi Arabia meant to feature a ski resort, twin skyscrapers and a building known as "The Line" that will be a staggering 170 kilometres (105 miles) long.

There has been increasing scepticism over the viability of the project and reports say population projections are being scaled down.

But "influencer mums" -- often English-speaking and dressed in Western clothes -- rave about how "magnificent" everything is in NEOM, right down to the delicious food.

One Thai mumfluencer, who goes by the username........

© International Business Times