Salween River much of its length, the Salween's course is nearly parallel to that of the much larger Mekong in the east. Although the commonly accepted name is Salween, the river is known by a handful of other names regionally: "Nu" in China, "Thanlwin" in southern Burma, and "Salawin" on the border of Thailand and Burma. Several major sub-continental drainage basins border on the Salween. The Mekong basin forms nearly the entire eastern boundary of the watershed, while the Irrawaddy River flows southwards on the west side of the basin. The smallest boundary is formed by the Yangtze to the extreme north.
Malaysia–Thailand border sea boundary in the Gulf of Thailand while a separate memorandum of understanding signed in 1979 established a short continental shelf boundary in the area. The boundary beyond that agreed is subject to dispute because of overlapping claims over the seabed. The overlapping claims led to the establishment of a joint development area in 1990 where both countries agreed to share mineral resources in a 7,250 square km wedge-shaped area. From west to east, the 646.5 km Malaysia-Thailand border begins at a point which lies just north of the Perlis River estuary as defined in the schedule of the Anglo-Siamese