Editing Wa people (section)

=== Military activity and drug production ===
The [[United Wa State Army]] was one of the world's largest [[narcotic|narco]]-armies, with up to 10,000 men under arms.<ref name="reuters.com"/> Until 1996 the UWSA was involved in a conflict against the [[Mong Tai Army]] which suited the objectives of the [[Tatmadaw]] in the area. During this conflict the Wa army occupied areas close to the Thai border, ending up with the control of two separate swathes of territory north and south of Kengtung. In 1999 when the Burmese military requested the Wa fighters to return to the northern area the UWSA refused.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.english.panglong.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5430:wa-will-not-budge-from-thai-border-areas&catid=86:war&Itemid=284 |title=Wa will not budge from Thai border areas |access-date=2014-04-03 |archive-date=2014-12-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204232130/http://www.english.panglong.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5430:wa-will-not-budge-from-thai-border-areas&catid=86:war&Itemid=284 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

During the 1990s the areas controlled by the UWSA were involved in heroin production.<ref name="Chouvy, Pierre-Arnaud & Meissonnier, Joël">{{Cite web|url=http://www.geopium.org/yaabaa-methamphetamine-production-traffic-consumption.htm|author1=Chouvy, Pierre-Arnaud|author2=Meissonnier, Joël|name-list-style=amp|title=Yaa Baa. Production, traffic, and consumption of methamphetamine in Mainland Southeast Asia|publisher=[[Singapore]] University Press, 2004|access-date=2006-03-13|archive-date=2010-09-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100922162713/http://geopium.org/yaabaa-methamphetamine-production-traffic-consumption.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Davis">{{Cite web|url=http://www.janes.com/security/law_enforcement/news/jir/jir041119_1_n.shtml |first=Anthony |last=Davis |title=Thai drugs smuggling networks reform |publisher=[[Jane's Information Group]] |date=19 November 2004 |access-date=2009-03-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050308072952/http://www.janes.com/security/law_enforcement/news/jir/jir041119_1_n.shtml |archive-date=March 8, 2005 }}</ref> During the 2000s, the United Wa State Army shifted focus into amphetamine production.<ref name="Chouvy, Pierre-Arnaud & Meissonnier, Joël"/><ref name="Davis"/> Records of official seizures compiled by the United Nations suggest that in 2006 Myanmar was the source of half of Asia's methamphetamine, known in Thailand as [[ya ba|yaba]], and some experts believe that most drug labs are in areas under Wa control.<ref name="reuters.com"/>