Khun Sa; Burmese Opium Lord Driven from Thailand

BANGKOK, Thailand —  Khun Sa, the Burmese opium warlord whose forces were driven out of Thailand three years ago, died of diabetes Wednesday, Thai border police in northern Chiang Mai reported Friday.

Khun, 52, also known as Chang Si Fu, headed the Shan United Army, one of a dozen Burmese rebel groups struggling for causes ranging from autonomy to overthrowing the Rangoon government. The army operates in the so-called Golden Triangle area straddling the borders of Burma, Thailand and Laos, and is heavily involved in drug trafficking.

Khun had been engaged in opium trafficking since 1963. He was driven out of northern Thailand in 1982 in a battle in which about 200 of his men died and hundreds of government troops were killed or wounded.