The topics of regional tension in the South China Sea and the civil war in Myanmar are expected to take center stage at the leaders' meeting hosted by Laos in Vientiane.

Southeast Asian leaders met in Laos on Wednesday for a summit expected to find ways of tackling a worsening civil war in Myanmar, with Thailand set to propose a new path for a political solution after a regional peace effort made scant progress.

Southeast Asian leaders gathered in the capital of Laos for an annual regional forum that will focus on tackling the prolonged civil war in Myanmar and territorial tensions in the South China Sea