Chang Chi-fu () Thai Name : Chan Jangtrakul (Thai : นายจันทร์ จางตระกูล) ) (February 17 1933 – October 26 2007), Associated Press via Google News; retrieved 2007-10-30 , 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. According to the book by Tiziano Terzani "Un indovino mi disse" (A fortune-teller told me) page 411, Khun Sa was born on the 22nd of February, 1934. (Published by the Biblioteca Superpocket 1995. ISBN 88-462-0342-9.) Italian journalist Tiziano Terzani met with Khun Sa in December 1993-January 1994 and relates his experiences and impressions in his novel. He also used the date of Khun Sa's birth to visit an astrologist (pretending that the birthday was his own) to see what the astrologist would have to say.

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 trained with 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 re-formed it into a Ka Kwe Ye local militia loyal to Gen Ne Win's 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 by a New York court for trying to import 1,000 tons of heroin. He had proposed the USA buy his entire opium production or he would 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.