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Text File | 1994-05-02 | 8KB | 182 lines

<text> <title> Burma: Golden Triangle 'Opium King' Khun Sa Interviewed </title> <article> <hdr> Foreign Broadcast Information Service, August 7, 1990 Burma: Golden Triangle 'Opium King' Khun Sa Interviewed </hdr> <body> [By Patricia Elliott with Subin Khunkaeo BANGKOK POST in English 29 Jul 90 p 9] [Text] He lives in a red brick bungalow hemmed in by a brilliant tangle of flowers. Khun Sa, opium king of the Golden Triangle, says gardening is his favourite pastime. Looking healthy and relaxed, the general holds court on his verandah. Normally Khun Sa allows only one hour for interviews with journalists, but today he is in a good mood. The afternoon slips by as he gives the BANGKOK POST a well-rehearsed but occasionally revealing account of his life. "I'm not a devil. I don't have wings and I don't have horns and hooves," Khun Sa insists. While US officials have dubbed him the Prince of Death, Khun Sa prefers comparisons to George Washington. He describes himself as a nation-builder for the Shan State. The legend is that George Washington never told a lie. Few outside of his immediate followers give the same credence to Khun Sa. Born in 1934 in Loi Maw township and given the Chinese name Chang Si-fu, Khun Sa cut his teeth first with the Shan nationalist movement, then switched sides and led the local Loi Maw militia, eventually rivalling the Kuomintang in power within Burma's lawless frontier. Khun Sa's fight with the Kuomintang (KMT) was interrupted in 1969, when he was captured and jailed by the Burmese. He was released suddenly in 1974 supposedly in exchange for Soviet hostages. According to official propaganda, Khun Sa then "had to wait and while away his time acting as a playboy to the ever-watchful Burmese Military Intelligence Service." Now Khun Sa has emerged again. In 1985 he brought his Muang Tai Army [MTA] under the nationalist banner of the Tai Revolutionary Council, which is fighting for a free Shan State. Khun Sa describes the 62,500 square mile Shan State, with its population of 8 million, as a place of anarchy and internecine warfare egged on by outside interference: "Big towns have turned into small villages. Highways have turned into small tracks. That's why we have to take up arms. We're not doing it for fun. What we are doing is only to fence up our house so we can enjoy our own fruits. But it is has somehow offended other people. I don't know why." The offence taken is because of the "fruit". The region's most profitable fruit is raw opium and, increasingly, refined opium. A total of 696,700 rai in upper Shan are opium fields and this year drug enforcement officials predict a bumper crop. The Muang Tai Army general admits the bulk of his movement's income comes from opium and heroin. You could call it taking a cut from the profits for protection money. Or you could, in the words of Khun Sa, call it a legitimate commercial tax taken in by a legitimate, albeit unrecognised, government. But Khun Sa repeatedly claims he wants to end the opium trade and also that he has the power to do so. In 1977 he told US government representatives he would phase out opium production over a six to seven year period in exchange for foreign aid. The offer still holds but so far there have been no takers. "It has taken nearly 14 years now, twice the period of time that I proposed. Within this period of time, how many more addicts are there? That's why in 1989 I had to review my old plan." The latest price for the opium crop is US $210 million in UN assistance, $265 million in foreign investment and $89.5 million in private aid, to be used to provide crop substitution, schools, hospitals and other basics of development that the Shan people lack. "Let me put it this way. They can use half of what they've been using to eradicate opium and give it to the Shan people. We will eradicate it ourselves," Khun Sa says. Why the offer? According to Khun Sa it's all for the good of mankind. "When I have recovered my country, the 26 races of the Shan State will rejoice. But if I can free the world from the menace of opium, then I will do good for the world. I would like to do that." This is Khun Sa's favourite line, repeated to the Press many times. He even goes further: "I want to help not only the addicts but also those who are in their mothers' wombs, to prevent them from becoming addicts." But in the meantime he makes it clear that the production will continue until somebody pays up. "In 1988 I told the DEA (US Drug Enforcement Administration): 'You want to eradicate opium, but you don't want to spend your money.' I'm working for my country and I offer to help them. Why don't they accept my offer"? But critics answer that Khun Sa's offer is not for the good of mankind, but a form of blackmail. The blackmail would provide a final quick payout for a declining empire as new opium routes to India and China diminish the importance of Khun Sa's territory on the Thai border. Beyond the general's word, there is no guarantee the development money would not be used for military purposes--and Khun Sa repeatedly stresses that political freedom is a precondition for carrying out the programme. But the "independence war" is not focussed on the ruling junta in Rangoon. "Our real enemy is the successive governments of Rangoon, but the harm they have done to us so far is only about 20 percent," says Khun Sa. Recent fighting is against the United Wa State Army and the Wa National Army. While Khun Sa maintains the Wa are the arm of Burmese oppression, US officials view the ongoing conflict as a fight for opium trade routes. "Independence is my concern. But opium production in my country is your concern," says Khun Sa, deflecting the line of questioning away from military matters. He launches into an attack on DEA officials, an enemy he is more comfortable discussing. DEA officials use taxpayers' money to buy houses, cars and concubines, says Khun Sa. "The DEA is using the people's money. Just let the DEA officials go out and make their own money. I bet they couldn't feed even one wife if they had to do it themselves." Khun Sa believes the DEA's motives are primarily political--the agency is engaged in covert warfare against liberation forces. "In the name of anti-narcotics they have hired armies to attack us. They have used planes to spray our houses and fields. Because of what they're doing the livelihood of the people has been destroyed." The MTA general points to Manuel Noriega as an example. "They called Noriega the King of Cocaine, but what Mr (US President) Bush did to Noriega was for the right of a waterway. Here, what does he want?" This seems to be the one question that truly worries Khun Sa. On March 15 the US indicted Khun Sa for drug trafficking, the same prelude to Noriega's downfall. As the interview draws to a close, Khun Sa is anxious to ask a question of his own: "After the announcement of the indictment there has been strong talk of using planes and troops to attack me. Is this a possibility?" he asks. The general ends by ticking off his list of invitations. The United Nations is welcome to enter his territory any time. US officials who would give aid, but secretly, should approach him through the Thai government. "So far I have heard only sounds, nothing concrete," he says. In fact, at least one USAID-funded agency is known to be interested. The standing offer is relayed one more time: "I want the governments to have pity on their own people. Instead of pursuing a hopeless method, why don't you come and choose the six to seven year opium eradication plan?" What's in it for Khun Sa and his followers? "The right to live in our own garden. That's all," he