NOTORIOUS DRUG LORD AT DEATH'S DOOR

MYANMAR'S most notorious drug lord, Khun Sa, is semi-paralysed and is
not expected to last the year, according to sources close to him.

Friends say he is becoming increasingly feeble and forgetful and
cannot get out of bed without help.

Khun Sa, once the most-wanted man on the United States' list of
international drug dealers, lives in Yangon inside a military
intelligence compound.

The military junta has refused consistently to extradite him following
a 1996 deal in which he abandoned his ethnic Mong Tai Army (MTA) and
his Homong base in Shan state. The MTA, a former enemy of the junta,
then broke apart.

Plans for him to retire to his former stronghold in eastern Myanmar,
where he once commanded 15,000 heavily armed troops, had apparently
been abandoned, said the Thai-based Shan Herald News Agency.

It quoted a former attendant as saying that Khun Sa was on his last
legs.

"He has to be spoon-fed. If he tries to help himself, he ends by
spilling everything over his clothes," she said. "His mouth keeps
going awry making his speech unintelligible. He also has trouble
remembering anything."

She added that Khun Sa's physicians were whispering that it would be a
miracle if he lived out the year.

The agency, an independent news service partly-funded by financier
George Soros' Open Society organisation, is respected by human rights
groups for its information gathering.

Even if Khun Sa wanted to return to the Shan state, sources say there
is little left for him.

His three homes in Homong and two other houses south in Mongmai were
cleared out by his mistresses.

They whisked his valuable furniture off to Thailand or to Tachilek on
the Myanmar side of the border. The homes are now surrounded by
overgrown grass and bush.

Khun Sa's life now is a far cry from his glory days in the 90s when
his army trafficked hundreds of tonnes of heroin into Thailand and
onto the international market. Shan Herald Agency founder, Khuensai
Jaiyen, said Khun Sa's present home was "nothing flashy".

"It is not his normal standard of living," he said.

In a letter written reportedly to one of former aides in Thailand he
spoke about his desire to return to the Shan state.

"Even if I got nabbed by US drug agents, my life in the American jail
would fare even better than here in Yangon?" Khun Sa wrote.

However, in spite of his poor health, his legacy appears to live
on.

Last year the Myanmar Defence Ministry stated that his surrender terms
included a no-trafficking clause.

But observers claim Khun Sa has been granted public transport
concessions in Shan state by the government, which allows him to
control trafficking. He is also involved in gem trading and
construction businesses.

According to the Shan Herald Agency, Khun Sa's second son, Chang
Weikang -- one of eight children -- is now building a power base in
Shan state.

A new militia, ultimately falling under his control, is being
established.

[sidebar]

KHUN SA

Born Chang Chi Fu

Former head of the now-defunct Shan United Army (SUA), also known as
the Mong Thai Army (MTA), which for 20 years fought against the
authorities in Yangon. MTA was a dominant force in South-east Asia's
narcotics trade and the world's largest producer of heroin prior to
capitulating to government forces in 1996.

Wanted on US federal drug violations in the Eastern District of New
York, including conspiracy, importation of, and possession with intent
to distribute heroin in US.

Tops a US list of five wanted narcotics kingpins

US$2 million (S$3.4 million) reward had been offered for information
leading to his arrest or conviction in the US.