Around the northern Thai village of Mae Salong, remnants of Chinese anti-communist forces now fighting on behalf of the Thai government launched a five-year campaign against local communist insurgents.

Mae Salong, officially known as Santikhiri, is a village in the Thai highlands on Doi Mae Salong mountain of the Daen Lao Range, in Mae Fa Luang District, Chiang Rai Province, the northernmost province of Thailand. The area has an alpine-like landscape and climate, and is known for its hill tribe villages, tea plantations, and cherry blossoms.

The Republic of China Army also known as the ROC Army (ROCA); colloquially the Taiwanese Army by western or mainland Chinese media, or commonly referred as the National Military Army by local Taiwanese people, is the largest branch of Taiwan's military, the Republic of China (Taiwan) Armed Forces.

The Communist Party of Thailand was a communist party in Thailand active from 1942 until the 1990s.