Indochina, which was originally termed Indo-China, consists of the countries in Southeast Asia now known as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar (formerly Burma), Thailand, and Vietnam. The countries are all within the sphere of influence of the Indian subcontinent and China, and also included part of Malaysia and Singapore in the original designation. Later, the term Indochina was used to refer to the French Indochina region that covered just Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, until each was recognized as an independent nation in the 1950s.

Rivers and lakes are living systems, both above and below the waters. The lives and livelihoods of creatures above and creatures below are deeply intertwined in large lake/river systems, and such is the case with Inle Lake, the connected chain of waterways and water bodies—small and large—in Myanmar.