River systems of Thailand divides into two major branches, the " Tiền Giang" (Front River) and "Hậu Giang" (Back River). These in turn enter the South China Sea through nine estuaries. The following are the principal tributaries of Mekong River which flow through Thailand (tributaries entirely outside the Thai border not shown). The Mekong drains a considerable portion of northeast Thailand. In terms of Thai territory drained, it is second only to the Chao Phraya system. The Salawin River rises in Tibet (Tibetan: རྒྱལ་མོ་རྔུལ་ཆུ།) after which it flows through Yunnan, where it is known as the "Nujiang" River (), although either name can be
Kuomintang in Burma the pro-Western minorities or the pro-Soviet or pro-Chinese communists. On the other hand, Burma is located between neutralist India to the west, Communist China to the north, and war-torn Laos and pro-United States Thailand to the East. Situated in the middle of these states with differing ideologies and deep antagonisms, this made it necessary for Burma to maintain friendly terms with all of them. The Burmese government feared that the presence of the anti-communist KMT troops on its borders would antagonize Communist China and provide it with an excuse to invade Burma. Indeed, at a time when the Korean War