Word: thailand
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...tsunami swept over Burma, the generals refused any outside help. This time, though, the military announced it would welcome foreign aid. Three days after the storm, a trickle of donated food started reaching victims near Rangoon, although scores of other aid workers were still grounded in neighboring Thailand as the Burmese embassy considered processing their visas. Meanwhile, U.S. navy ships were idling in nearby Thai waters, seeking permission to enter Burmese waters and help with the relief effort. On May 6, U.S. President George W. Bush pledged $3.25 million in emergency aid to a country normally cut off from American...
...down foreign aid without reciprocal political concessions. And corruption is so rampant in Burma that NGOs worry about how much aid will actually reach the neediest victims. "One side of me wants to hope for openness," says Khin Omar, a Burmese former student activist who lives in exile in Thailand. "But the other side knows the regime is smart enough to let in aid and then close any window of opportunity for reform...
...postpone the plebiscite until May 24 in the hardest-hit townships. Initially a state-run newspaper said there would be no delay because the people of Burma were eagerly looking forward to the chance to vote. But, says Aung Zaw, a Burmese in exile who edits the Thailand-based Irrawaddy newsmagazine, "what the people in Burma are eagerly looking forward to is the military government bringing them food and water and shelter...
...military had been swayed by soothsayers who predicted that civil unrest and a natural disaster would soon strike the city. Within eight months of each other, both prophecies had come true. "People in Burma are angry about two things," says Aung Zaw, a Burmese in exile who edits a Thailand-based magazine called the Irrawaddy. "They're angry at the military for reacting so slowly. And they're angry at the cyclone for missing Naypyidaw and keeping the generals safe." The long-suffering Burmese can only hope that divine intervention will not be so kind to the generals next time...
Burma has been selective about accepting foreign aid. It has allowed help in from allies like India and China and from neighboring Thailand to enter. After some hesitation over a number of days, the junta okayed a large shipment from the United Nations. It has yet to arrive. Aid workers from numerous organizations and personnel from numerous nations are mobilized and ready to assist, but the regime has been slow to process visas, fearing infiltration by journalists, who are banned, and more generally, Western, pro-democratic influence, which is not to be trusted. "They want the foreign...