Khun Sa
The Opium King of the Golden Triangle
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Khun Sa's father died when he was three years old, and his Shan mother died two years later, so he was raised largely by his Han grandfather.[1] He formed his first independent band of young men at age sixteen and later re-formed his army into a local "Ka Kwe Ye" home guard unit under Burmese army control in 1963.[2][3] The government allowed him to grow and trade opium in return for fighting local Shan rebels.[3] He was arrested on October 29, 1969, at Heho Airport for high treason after secret talks with the Shan State Army were discovered.[4]
During the 1980s he controlled 70% of Burma's opium production and commanded 20,000 men.[5] In 1973, people loyal to Khun Sa kidnapped two Soviet doctors from a hospital in Taunggyi; they then exchanged the doctors for Khun Sa's freedom, which resulted in his release in 1974.[6][7] Khun Sa was the leading opium warlord in the Golden Triangle during the period from 1974 through 1994.[5] On January 5, 1996, Khun Sa gave himself up to the Burmese government, relocated to Rangoon, and brought a substantial amount of wealth with him.[8]
What the cited sources add
The Australian Government rejected the offer, with Senator Gareth Evans declaring it would not pay criminals to refrain from criminal activity.[9] During a 1989 interview with People magazine reporter Karen Petersen, Khun Sa stated that his army totaled 12,000 men and that he maintained a second wife in Bangkok.[9][10] In an interview with Canadian journalist Patricia Elliott, Khun Sa specified that he would require US$210 million in UN assistance, US$265 million in foreign investment, and US$89.5 million in private aid to eradicate opium.[11]
References
- Wikipedia, "Khun Sa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lintner (2007) 1; Lintner (1999) 525; Smith 95 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Khun Sa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lintner (2007) 1; Fuller; Lintner (1999) 525 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Khun Sa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lintner (1999) 525 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Khun Sa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lintner (1999) 260–261; Lintner (2007) 2 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Khun Sa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: The Economist.; Fuller; Boyle (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Khun Sa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lintner (1999) 262 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Khun Sa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lintner (2007) 2; Lintner (1999) 319 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Khun Sa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lintner (1999) 526; The Economist.; Fuller; The Economist.; Lintner (1999) 526 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Khun Sa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Parliament of Australia; Petersen; Lintner (2007) 1 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Khun Sa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Petersen (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Khun Sa" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Elliott "How 'Prince of Death' Sees Bright Future for Shan"; Elliott "Peaceful Village Home to Liberation Struggle" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Khun Sa (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Khun Sa (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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