Khun Sa

Chang Chi-fu (Chinese: 張奇夫; pinyin: Zhāng Qífú) (February 17 1934 – October 26 2007), more commonly known by the nom de guerre of Khun Sa, was a Burmese warlord. He was also dubbed the "Opium King" due to his opium trading in the so-called Golden Triangle. He was also the leader of the Shan United Army.

Biography

Khun Sa was born to a Chinese father and a Shan mother. He adopted the pseudonym Khun Sa, meaning "Prince Prosperous". In his youth he fought against the Kuomintang, which had fled into the border regions of Burma from Yunnan upon its defeat in the Chinese Civil War, and eventually went to form his own army of a few hundred men. In 1963 he reformed it into a Ka Kwe Ye, local militia loyal to Burmese government. Ka Kwe Ye received money, uniforms and weapons in return for fighting the Shan rebels.

When Khun Sa had expanded his army to 800 men, he stopped cooperating with the Burmese government, took control of large area in Shan and Wa states and expanded into opium production. In 1967 he clashed with the Kuomintang remnants in Shan State, which resulted in his defeat, demoralizing him and his forces. In 1969, the Rangoon government captured him. He was freed in 1973 when his second-in-command abducted two Russian doctors and demanded his release. By 1976 he had returned to opium smuggling, and set up a base inside northern Thailand in the village of Ban Hin Taek. He renamed his group the Shan United Army and began ostensibly fighting for Shan autonomy against the Burmese Government. He was eventually expelled by the Royal Thai Army and his base destroyed.

In 1985, Khun Sa joined forces with the Tai Revolutionary Council of Moh Heng. Through that alliance he both gained control of the whole Thai-Burma border area from Mae Hong Son to Mae Sai and became one of the principal figures in opium smuggling in the Golden Triangle.

In 1989, Khun Sa was charged in New York court trying to import 1,000 tons of heroin. He had proposed that the USA would buy his entire opium production so he would not sell it on the international narcotics market.

It is claimed that Khun Sa surrendered to Burmese officials in January 1996, reputedly because he did not want to face drug smuggling charges in the USA. US officials had promised $2 million reward for his arrest. Khun Sa left the Shan States for Rangoon, but he was never arrested by the government. Burmese officials refused to extradite him, and he lived the rest of his life in the Rangoon area with significant investments in Yangon, Mandalay and Taunggyi.

Death

Khun Sa died on October 26, 2007 in Rangoon at the age of 73. The cause of death was not known, though he had suffered from diabetes, partial paralysis and high blood pressure.

Chronology of events

1937 - Father passes away; Mother remarried to Khun Ji, Chief of Mongtawm

1939 - Mother passes away; Khun Sa goes to live with paternal grandfather Khun Yihsai(Zhang Chunwu), Chief of Loimaw

1960 - (6 January) Approached by Col Maung Shwe, Commander, Eastern Region Commander, with an offer to set up a pro-Burma Army militia

1964 - (17 May) All 100 and 50 kyat banknotes demonetized without compensation; (15 June) takes up armed struggle under the leadership of Bo Deving, a hero of Tangyan battle (1959); Arrives in Ban Hintaek, Chiangrai province; breaks up with Bo Deving; joins the newly-formed Shan State Army (SSA)N.B. He later decided to return to the Burma Army fold

1967 - “Opium War” against ex-KMT remnants in the Golden Triangle, losing opium caravan to Gen Ouane Rattikone, Laotian army commander (He claims to get it back from Ouane afterwards)

1969 - (20 October) arrested and sent to Mandalay prison; his troops, led by his Manchurian chief of staff Zhang Xuchuan(Falang), take up the name Shanland United Army (SUA) and return to the armed struggle

1973 - (16 April) Two Russian doctors working in Taunggyi abducted by a trusted aide Charlie Yang to be held as hostage in exchange for Khun Sa’s release

1974 - (7 September) released but kept under “protection” of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) in Mandalay

1976 - (7 February) escapes to Shan State and then to Ban Hintaek

1977 - (16 April) meets Joseph Nellis, aide to Congressman Lester Wolff, then Chairman of the US House Select Committee on Narcotics, to present “Six Year Plan” to eradicate opium production(18 July) proposal rejected by the Carter administration

1982 - (21 January) his force in Ban Hintaek attacked by the Thai Border Patrol Police (BPP) “hired by the DEA”, according to him; he later attacks and occupies Doilang, opposite Chiangmai’s Mae Ai district

1985 - (3 March) joins generals Gawnzerng and Zarm Mai to form a new Shan State Army (SSA), which later becomes the Mong Tai Army (MTA); elected as Vice President of the newly formed Tai Revolutionary Council (later Shan State Restoration Council); establishes HQ in Homong, opposite Maehongson

Additions

1991 - Elected President of the Shan State Restoration Council(SSRC) following Gawnzerng’s death (11 July)

1993 - (12 December) declares Independence

1994 - Forces moving up to Sino-Burma border attacked and dispersedby Burma Army

1995 - (6 June) Mutiny by Col Gunyawd who breaks away to set up Shan State National Army (SSNA), plus combined attack by Wa and Burma Army and blockade by Thailand, weakens MTA

1996 - (7 January ) surrenders to Burma Army; moves to Rangoon to live under protection at MI base Ye Kyi Aing

2004 - Protégé Gen Khin Nyunt ousted; moves to home in Rangoon but still under “protection”

2007 - (28 October) passes away at 06:30 (Burma Standard Time)

- (30 October) remains cremated at Yeway cemetery, North Okkalapa

References

• Obituary in The Times, 5 November 2007