Short answers, pulled from the story.
ASEAN was founded on the 8th of August 1967 when five foreign ministers signed the ASEAN Declaration in Bangkok. The founding members were Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.
Brunei became the sixth member on the 7th of January 1984 while Vietnam joined as the seventh member on the 28th of July 1995. Laos and Myanmar entered two years later on the 23rd of July 1997 and Cambodia finally joined on the 30th of April 1999. Timor-Leste completed the process by joining on the 26th of October 2025 as the eleventh member.
The ASEAN Way is an informal working process where policymakers utilize compromise, consensus, and consultation to avoid public embarrassment. Decision-making requires all members to see eye-to-eye before the organization can move forward on any issue which often leads to policies satisfying the lowest common denominator.
The ASEAN Free Trade Area was established on the 28th of January 1992 with a Common Effective Preferential Tariff scheme to promote free flow of goods between member states. Countries have gradually lowered import duties toward zero since 2007 with a target completion date of 2016 for most original members.
ASEAN faced precedent-breaking situations regarding political and ethnic affairs in Myanmar from 2017 onward when the Rohingya genocide erupted killing thousands of people. The organization struggled to respond effectively after the military junta overthrew Myanmar's civilian government on the 1st of February 2021 while Cambodia often supports China's positions complicating collective responses.