More wide spread than many of its cousins, this mouse deer is found widely across Southeast Asia in Indochina, Myanmar (Kra Isthmus), Brunei, Cambodia, Southern Yunnan inChina , Indonesia (Kalimantan in Sumatra, and many other small islands), Laos, Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and many other small islands), Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

It is one of the smallest hoofed mammals, it is only bigger than the Javan mouse-deer. Feral dogs are one of its biggest threats.

It appears in various stories from the area that it is found in.