EX-DRUGLORD KHUN SA BACK IN BUSINESS

CHIANG MAI, Thailand, July 22 (Reuters) - Khun Sa, the Golden Triangle drug
baron who retired after surrendering to Myanmar authorities four years ago,
is back in business, Thai narcotics officials said on Thursday.

There were signs the former commander of the separatist Mong Tai Army (MTA)
in Myanmar's northeastern Shan state has become involved again with his son
in the opium-growing Golden Triangle, they told reporters.

The Golden Triangle straddles the borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.

``His son, Charm Herng is now playing an active role in drug trafficking.
There are signs Khun Sa is also getting involved,'' said Pinyo Chaithong,
the head of Thailand's Office of Narcotics Control Board (ONCB) based in
northern Chiang Mai.

``A few years ago we believed he had washed his hands of drugs but lately
there are signs that he is returning,'' Methee Wongpradit, Pinyo's deputy
told reporters.

Charm Herng, 30, a graduate of an American college, was shuttling between
Ho Mong -- Khun Sa's former stronghold in Shan state about 20 kms (12
miles) from the Thai border -- and Tachilek, an eastern Myanmar border
town, Methee said.

The half-Shan, half-Chinese Khun Sa, wanted by the United States on drug
trafficking charges, was widely reported in 1995 to have given up the drug
trade after his surrender.

He now lives in Yangon under the protection of the Myanmar military
government, which says he is not involved with drugs.

When Khun Sa surrendered, another Shan state rebel group called the United
Wa State Army took over his drugs trade. Narcotics experts say the UWSA is
heavily involved in drug trafficking despite having reached a truce with
Yangon.

But Thai officials said remnants of Khun Sa's now disbanded MTA had become
active again in drug producing and trafficking.

``Drug production by former Khun Sa guerrillas is increasing. His son is
seen playing an active role in that business,'' said a Thai army colonel
based at the border with Myanmar. ``There are signs and information that
Khun Sa is getting involved.''

Pinyo said reports that Khun Sa was seriously ill and partly paralysed were
untrue. ``We have learnt that he is healthly and living in luxury in
Myanmar.''

Thailand's ONCB said the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency had estimated Myanmar
would produce 2,500 to 2,800 tonnes of opium this year. The United Nations
put Myanmar's 1998 opium output at 1,700 tonnes.

``While the amount of heroin produced remains at about the same level, Yaba
(amphetamines) production is increasing at an alarming rate,'' Pinyo said.

Myanmar is one of the world's main sources of heroin. Its government says
it lacks the money and resources and to wipe out the drug trade in remote
areas of the country.

Pinyo estimated up to 300 million amphetamine tablets were produced
annually from the UWSA and the ex-MTA-controlled areas.

``The heroin (trafficking) routes have changed from Thailand to China,
Laos, Vietnam and even Cambodia. But Yaba comes directly to Thailand, which
we regard as the real threat to our national security,'' he said.

Thailand is concerned at a marked rise in amphetamine use among its youth.