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BKK Nation: Khun Sa, p art 3





The Nation
Tuesday May 10, 1994
 
HERO OR VILLAIN?
 
*In the last of a three-part series, PRAVIT ROJANAPHRUK, 
BOONLERT SIA-KIM and DOME SUWANA interview notorious 
'freedom fighter' and opium warlord Khun Sa.*
 
*The Burmese have made some advances and they are now on the 
western side of the Salween River, how do you see the situation?
 
_I'm not worried at all. If the Burmese could have crossed [the river] 
they would have done it. It's not that they have taken pity on us, or 
that we are their brothers, the fact is that they can't. I sleep peacefully 
at night and actually I really want them to cross [the river] to our side if 
they can so I can shoot them myself.
 
You see, the Salween River doesn't belong to the Burmese, it belongs 
to us -- the Thai Yai. If Thais think about utilizing our four main rivers 
[Nam Salween, Nam Muang Phuek, Nam Muang Saad, Nam Muang 
Loi] the Thai brothers, the Thai millionaires and the Thais in the private 
sector should help Khun Sa a bit. Once we can stand up against the 
Burmese, we will drive them back to where they belong. And Thais can 
make use of the rivers.
 
*How much area of the Shan State is under MTA (Muang Tai Army or 
the Army of the Tai Nation) influence?
 
_We have control over two-thirds of the Shan State.
 
*How do you look at the proposed quadrangular economic sphere that 
includes Burma, China, Laos and Thailand? Who do you think will 
really benefit from it?
 
_I don't think of it as an economic road, it's a strategic road for the 
Chinese only. The Chinese have spent many hours thinking of ways to 
outsmart the Burmese, Laotians and Thais. The Chinese want to build 
a bridge across the Salween River and build railways so they can send 
their troops down to Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Shan State and Burma 
within 24 hours. It is not about the economy.
 
*You have said that if the Thai government helps you, the MTA 
would surely defeat the SLORC (Burma's ruling State Law and Order 
Restoration Council), can you elaborate?
 
_I will push all the Burmese out of Shan Sate because they invaded us 
first, they also broke the Panglong Treaty that recognized Shan 
Independence. Because of all this, the MTA doesn't have to look for 
soldiers, men come willingly. These men voluntarily take arms to force 
the Burmese out. All we need are some arms and money.
 
The Burmese have only the rice and the sea to depend on, nothing 
else. All the rest of the natural resources that they are selling to 
foreigners belongs to us Thai Yai, so may I request everyone not to 
buy Burmese goods. Those goods actually belong to us, the Thai Yai. 
Once they get money, they guy guns to kill us. Thais and Tai [the 
other name for Thai Yai] are brothers. We share the same blood, the 
same King and Queen. If Shan gained independence, it would be 
another Tai state, and the name of His Majesty the King would be 
spread even further. Thais will trade with Tai, and the Thai economy 
will be even better.
 
*Does this mean that once Shan gains independence, it will become 
part of Thailand?
 
_No, not as such.
 
*Besides other ethnic groups in Shan State, have you been 
negotiating with other armed minorities like Kayah, Karen or Mon 
about political and economic alliances?
 
_I have delegated respective people to negotiate with the Karen and 
Kayah to come up with a draft constitution of the new confederation of 
states and to see if we can have an alliance of sort like the European 
Community.
 
*Given the present situation, what are you more worried about?
 
_There are only two things that worry me: money and arms, nothing 
more.
 
*How do you view the combined income you derive from opium and 
heroin taxes that you collect and those from the sales of Shan's jade, 
ruby and sapphires in relation to the amount you spent to keep the 
MTA running?
 
_That money is good for the purchase of our soldiers' boots only 
[laughs].
 
*The United States government always tells all its allies that having 
any kind of relationship with Khun Sa is wrong. What do you think of 
your reputation as the King of Opium, the man who is responsible for 
the loss of millions of lives, especially in the United States, due to 
heroin?
 
_The United States government sent someone to ask me about it. But I 
think they are crazy! And all they did was wrong. Now, they have 
realized that what they did in the past was wrong and they've started 
to talk with me.
 
*What about the mass media? You are potrayed as an opium crook 
who causes millions of deaths.
 
_The United States had also sent someone to ask me. I told them that 
the killer is not me, but the US DEA. I do political work, I'm not an 
opium trader. 
 
I collect [protection] taxes from traders, and this is the truth. And also 
don't have to catch [the growers and traders]. Who would I send them 
to? I just need the taxes to feed my soldiers.
 
*Don't you think that your act alone is indirectly causing suffering? 
 
_That's up to what you think but I don't care. Americans trade drugs 
too, so do the British don't they? but I see no one making a big fuss 
over those people. I think some people made me a target to earn 
money. They know that I don't grow opium.
 
*If there was anything that you could convey to the millions who are 
addicted to heroin and opium, what would it be?
 
_First, I know that opium is not a good thing, it destroys one's health. I 
quit growing opium in 1962, before anyone else. That year I initiated a 
tobacco plantation. I built 80 medical centres and 80 schools until the 
Burmese collaborated with the KMT [Kuomintang, the nationalist 
Chinese] and attacked us. Most medical units were destroyed but 
some schools still remain today. Local people can verify this.
 
If I met an addict, I would  bring him in for rehabilitation. We have a 
rehabilitation centre here. I feel concern for four groups of people; the 
opium growers, the addicts, the traders and those who are jailed for 
narcotics related charges. I feel pity that drugs destroyed their families.
 
In 1977, the United States government sent Mr Josef Nellis to 
negotiate with me. I proposed to him a 6-year opium eradication 
scheme but the US refused. Since then, I don't know how many six year 
terms have repeated themselves but the amount of opium production 
in Shan and Burma were at 200 tonnes per year before British 
colonization. But since the inception of the DEA, the number has 
increased to over 4,000 tonnes. The money that the DEA put in 
becomes a good fertilizer for opium. What I would like to say is, "Don't 
make a fuss over it."
 
If those who are after me say that Khun Sa is the undisputed Opium 
King, then why not come to get me? If you want to catch the main 
goon come and get the chief goon not those minute hooligans. But 
they don't so when can the crime be eradicated?
 
I made a proposition to the Thai government too. I wanted to tell them 
that it's not a big deal if we really want to eradicate opium but don't do 
it the DEA way. Or don't do it the UN's way because what they are 
doing now is like trimming a tree. They should come to me and uproot 
the tree. I really look forward to cooperating with all parties. If we have 
enough money to live and fight to attain independence we could 
eradicate all the opium fields in one day. The existing opium can be old 
to any nation interested and it can be dumped wherever they wish.