When Bao was 21, he joined and eventually led a Wa guerrilla group that smuggled opium across the China–Myanmar border.

[7] Bao joined the armed wing of the Communist Party of Burma (CPB) in 1969, and started out as a battalion commander for his home village of Kumna, but gradually became the leader of a brigade operating near the Myanmar–Thailand border.

Like many Wa villagers in the area at the time, Bao saw the CPB as a source of modern weaponry, combat training, and friendship.

[7] In 1989, the leadership of the CPB was challenged by several party members, resulting in an internal rebellion that ended with the disbandment of the armed wing of the CPB and the establishment of various new factions, including the United Wa State Army, which Bao would eventually lead.

[7] After the fall of the armed wing of the CPB, Bao joined the United Wa State Party (UWSP), and its armed wing, the United Wa State Army (UWSA).