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.
Mekong River Commission including China, Burma (Myanmar), Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. From its conception until 1995 the organization was under the leadership of an "executive agent". Since then it has had CEO's. The Mekong River Commission and its predecessors have never included the People's Republic of China (which was not a member of the United Nations in 1957) or Burma (which does not significantly rely on or tap the Mekong), whose territory contains the upper Basin of the Mekong. Although a New York-based organization called SERVIR has started a joint initiative project, SERVIR Mekong project, with five countries, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and