The KMT troops were, in effect, the forebears of the private narcotic armies operating in the
Golden Triangle. Almost all the KMT opium was sent south to Thailand.
[14] The trade between the KMT and their Thai allies worked such that weapons and military supplies were brought in to Mong Hsat on the incoming trip (either by mule train or aircraft) and KMT opium transported south to Chiang Mai on the outgoing trip. The KMT usually dealt with a powerful Thai police commander and client of the CIA, General
Phao Sriyanond, who shipped the opium from
Chiang Mai to
Bangkok for both local consumption and export.
Interesting history: Ever since kmt lost the Chinese civil war, the entrance themselves into burma hoping to retake china,they are the forerunner of the golden triangle in Myanmar who caused a huge spike in drug trade till today.