Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the chair of the ASEAN regional bloc, revealed the outcome of talks he has held since Thursday with Myanmar's junta chief and the prime minister of its shadow government in a rare outreach effort.

"There will be a ceasefire and no unnecessary provocations, because otherwise the whole humanitarian exercise would fail," Anwar told reporters in the Thai capital.

"My initial exchange with both the SAC Prime Minister and NUG has been very successful," he added, referring to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing.

Myanmar's junta announced a 20-day ceasefire on April 2, following a similar move by the opposition National Unity Government (NUG), after a massive earthquake on March 28 that killed more than 3,600 in the impoverished nation.

However, the junta has continued military operations in some areas, according to the United Nations and other groups in Myanmar, which has been riven by civil war since the ouster of an elected civilian government in 2021.

"Our priority is humanitarian efforts. They must have a ceasefire. They must ensure the safety of all the personnel helping out with the humanitarian arrangements," Anwar added.

The 10-nation ASEAN grouping had shunned the junta brass since the coup, barring Myanmar's ruling generals from its meetings for their failure to comply with its peace plan.

"The ASEAN position is that we should be more involved in the effort to get them to agree on the basis of the five-point consensus," Anwar said, referring to ASEAN's peace plan.

"I've already consulted ASEAN leaders that I will continue to engage."

In the talks with the shadow NUG, which includes remnants of the administration deposed in the coup, Anwar said he had conveyed that ASEAN would continue dialogue with it and the junta, while humanitarian support would also continue.

In a move that it calls “the state-building process”, Myanmar's military government said Thursday it will release nearly 5,000 prisoners in an amnesty to mark the country's new year festivities.

A junta statement said 4,893 prisoners will be pardoned "to participate in the state-building process, for peace of mind of people and on compassionate grounds".

To convey the "loving kindness of the state", the junta also said other prisoners would have their sentences reduced by one-sixth, except for those who had committed serious offences.

Civil rights groups say the junta has arrested thousands of protesters and activists since its 2021 coup cut short Myanmar's experiment with democracy and plunged the nation into a multi-sided civil war.

Amnesties are regularly announced to commemorate national holidays or Buddhist festivals, but most high-profile political prisoners including deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi remain detained.

The offences include unlawful association and terrorism, as well as murder and rape.

Around 30 buses exited the gates of Yangon's Insein Prison around 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, an AFP journalist saw.

Some of the hundreds on board disembarked outside the gates, reuniting with tearful families holding placards marked with their loved ones' names.

The junta said 13 foreign nationals would also be pardoned and deported, without giving details of their identities or crimes.