By Bernama,
Bangkok : Thailand’s Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said Wednesday Myanmar junta leaders would allow medical teams from Thailand into the country for humanitarian missions in a couple of days, but still insisted foreign aid workers are not needed, Thailand News Agency (TNA) reported.
Speaking to journalists here after a brief visit to the neighbouring country, the Thai premier said his Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein told him during a two-hour meeting in the former Myanmar capital of Yangon that Myanmar was able to cope with the situation by itself with 4,000 soldiers dispatched to help cyclone survivors in the hard-hit areas and cooperation from local residents.
“I was told that 27 countries offered to sent relief workers Myanmar but the country only wanted relief supplies,” said Samak, adding that “not a large number of foreign experts, as it can manage to solve its own problem”.
The Thai premier said the Myanmar junta leader assured him during a visit to a government relief centre that there was no outbreak of disease, starvation or famine in Myanmar among the cyclone survivors who have been transported to safe areas.
The junta leader also said that visa applications could be considered on a case-by-case basis, the Thai premier said.
Samak also added that the Myanmar junta agreed to accept medical teams from Thailand to provide relief efforts in cyclone-stricken areas in Irrawaddy delta.
Thailand will dispatch 40 teams of physicians and medical staff to provide medical assistance and prevent diseases, the prime minister said.
The death toll from Cyclone Nargis which devastated Myanmar on May 3 has risen to 38,491, with 27,838 people missing, Myanmar state radio said Wednesday.
However, the United Nations has warned the number of dead likely exceeds 100,000, and that many more may die unless vital aid reaches up to two million survivors.