Naw Kham

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Sai Naw Kham (Burmese: နော်ခမ်း; Shan: ၼေႃႇၶမ်း; also spelled Nor Kham; 8 November 1969 – 1 March 2013) was an ethnic Shan associate of the Chinese drug trafficker Khun Sa who operated in the Golden Triangle, a major drugs-smuggling area where the borders of Burma, Laos and Thailand converge.^[1] He was executed for alleged involvement in the killing of 13 Chinese sailors.

Excessive media coverage and live broadcast of the execution were seen in Myanmar as a Chinese attempt to frame the ethnic Shans and the Burmese for the drug problems; China had previously allowed drug traffickers like Pheung Kya-shin to roam free in China.^[2] Since the KMT retreated to Burma in the early 1950s, ethnic Chinese drug lords have set up a drug empire in the Golden Triangle, taking advantage of their global networks, which the natives lacked. Profits from the drug trade have allowed the Chinese to expand and replace the native populations. As a result, parts of northern Myanmar and the city of Mandalay have become effectively sinicized.^[3]