Disneyland among poppies

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Burma opium king's town to be tourist, trade spot
    HO MONG, Burma, July 3 (Reuter) - The son of Burma's former
opium warlord Khun Sa said he will turn his father's old jungle
headquarters in eastern Burma into a tourism and trade centre.
    "Ho Mong will be a tourist spot where all visitors are
welcome to visit and buy goods," Jam Herng told reporters from
neighbouring Thailand who visited the remote settlement late on
Tuesday.
    Jam Herng and provincial officials from Thailand presided
over a ceremony on Tuesday to mark the opening of a border
crossing point between Burma's Shan state and the northwest Thai
province of Mae Hong Son.
    The opening of the border with Thailand will improve the
supply of goods to the remote Ho Mong area. Earlier this year
anti-Rangoon guerrillas attacked supply lines from central Burma
to the town leading to serious shortages there.
    After the cermony, attended by hundreds of villagers from
the Ho Mong area, a small group of Thai reporters travelled the
20 km (14 miles) to Khun Sa's old headquarters, the first time
visitors from Thailand have been allowed in since the former
rebel commander surrendered at the beginning of the year.
    The market in the town was well-stocked with seafood and
imported whisky from Rangoon, as well as cigarettes and clothes
from Singapore.
    The opening of the border checkpoint is the first time
Thailand has offically allowed trade with the Ho Mong area since
1993. Then, the Thai military had sealed the frontier at the
request of the Burmese government to put pressure on Khun Sa and
his powerful guerrilla force, who were at war with Rangoon.
    Following Khun Sa's surprise surrender in January the
Rangoon government said Khun Sa would not be extradited to the
United States where he has been charged with heroin smuggling
but would be dealt with according to Burmese law.
    There has been no indication he has yet been put on trial
and Jam Herng said on Tuesday his father was well and living in
Rangoon.
    Jam Herng said Burmese authorities have allowed former
members of Khun Sa's Mong Tai Army to run Ho Mong as a special
administrative zone with Burmese troops supervising the area
from a distance.
 REUTER
0450 030796 GMT