Khun Sa

Uncommon card · No. 140787

Khun Sa (Thai: จันทร์ จางตระกูล, Burmese: ခွန်ဆာ, pronounced [kʰʊ̀ɰ̃ sʰà]; 17 February 1934 – 26 October 2007) was an ethnic Han drug lord and warlord. He was born in Hpa Hpeung village, in the Loi Maw ward of Mongyai, Northern Shan State, Burma. Before he assumed the Shan name "Khun Sa" in 1976, he was known primarily by his Chinese name, Zhang Qifu (simplified Chinese: 张奇夫; traditional Chinese: 張奇夫; pinyin: Zhāng Qífū). In his early life, Khun Sa received military equipment and training from both the Kuomintang and Burmese Army before claiming to fight for the independence of Shan State and going on to establish his own independent territory. He was dubbed the "Opium King" in Myanmar due to his massive opium smuggling operations in the Golden Triangle, where he was the dominant opium warlord from approximately 1976 to 1996. Although the American ambassador to Thailand called him "the worst enemy the world has," he successfully co-opted the support of both the Thai and Burmese governments...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Stephen Rice, CC BY-SA 3.0