Reuters
Thailand called on Friday for the regional bloc ASEAN to take a more proactive role in trying to resolve the crisis in military-ruled Myanmar, after weeks of fighting near its border that halted trade and led to a brief influx of refugees. Myanmar is locked in a civil war between the military on one side and, on the other, a loose alliance of established ethnic minority armies and a resistance movement formed after the junta's bloody crackdown on dissent following its 2021 coup. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) came up with a peace plan in 2021 that Myanmar's generals agreed to, but it has only been partially implemented, causing fissures in the bloc and frustration from its most prominent members.