Foreign ministers of the 10 member states will gather in Kuala Lumpur for their annual meeting and they are looking for ways to try to speed up political reform in military-run Burma.

Rangoon's seven-step "road map" towards democracy and national reconciliation is moving at a snail's pace. But Asean's previous moves to spur the junta into action have yielded little.

The Kuala Lumpur meeting is not expected to produce any breakthrough on the deadlock, a Foreign Ministry official said.

Caretaker Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon will propose that the group enhance the role of Asean chairman to allow more engagement with Rangoon in an attempt to persuade the junta to democratise, said Asean Affairs Department director Nopadol Gunavibool.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, the current chairman of the group, failed to make any progress on his visit to Burma in March. The junta rejected his idea that they meet all stakeholders in Burmese politics, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Asean needs to put more effort into maintaining contact with the junta, Nopadol said, because Burma was about to shut down channels of engagement with it.

"The international community has seen that our regional approach toward Burma does not work, so we need to prove it can work," he told reporters.

Asean members are split over the political deadlock in Burma. Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines want to see Asean take a tougher approach toward the junta and are happy to see the issue discussed by the UN Security Council. But newer members Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam would prefer to see a more lenient stance.

Supalak Ganjanakhundee

The Nation