Thailand: Chinese Muslim general, Ma Ching-kuo, leader of the Kuomintang (KMT) 1st Independent Unit

Chinese Nationalist troops entered Thailand in the 1960s and were divided into three main groups. The KMT 5th Army, numbering just under 2,000 men and commanded by General Tuan Shi-wen, established an armed camp on Doi Mae Salong close by the Burmese frontier in Chiang Rai Province.

The KMT 3rd Army, numbering around 1,500 men under the command of General Li Wen-huan, made its headquarters at the remote and inaccessible settlement of Tam Ngop, in the farthest reaches of Chiang Mai Province.

Finally a smaller force of about 500 men, the KMT 1st Independent Unit under General Ma Ching-kuo, acted as a link between the two main factions, reporting directly to Taiwan. All three groups were considered to be "Haw" by the Thais, though of the three commanding officers only one, General Ma Ching-kuo, was a Muslim.

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