LIANE HANSEN, host:
From NPR News, this is WEEKEND EDITION. I'm Liane Hansen.
The humanitarian crisis in the country of Myanmar continues to be grave. At least a million and a half people are in need of food, water and shelter. Reports out of Yangon, Myanmar indicate that the military regime has plastered the names of its generals on international relief boxes.
Yesterday amidst all the chaos after the devastating cyclone that hit more than a week ago, the country held a national referendum to vote on a new constitution, aimed at cementing its military leaders' power.
Joining us now to discuss this situation is NPR's Doualy Xaykaothao in Bangkok, Thailand, which is the center stage of the international aid effort. Doualy, first of all, what do you hear about humanitarian aid actually getting into Myanmar from Thailand?
DOUALY XAYKAOTHAO: Well, aid is getting into Myanmar on Thai military flights, on commercial flights and tomorrow more flights are expected, including one American C-130 flight from an air base just south of Bangkok. Today, some Thai news agencies reported that a Thai team traveling with a former prime minister flew to Myanmar to donate money and surprise on behalf of the king of Thailand.
Now, one of their goals is also to advocate on behalf of the U.S. to try and secure a DART team, or a Disaster Assistance Response Team, which can more efficiently and effectively try to assess the disaster in Myanmar.
HANSEN: What about the teams of disaster experts that are standing by in Thailand? Are they just waiting for visas?
XAYKAOTHAO: Yes. People are anxiously hoping for good news. I mean, a number of agencies have been telling us that they're frustrated but optimistic. Many are receiving field reports from partner groups in Myanmar. Visas are being processed, especially for aid groups already working in the country but only in small numbers. Say, two or three at a time.
Sarah Ireland, with the British aid group Oxfam, is trying to secure visas for one of their teams to operate in Myanmar. The only thing they can do is get updates on what they're hearing. For example, she said:
Ms. SARAH IRELAND (Oxfam International): We understand that a lot of the water sources are already contaminated. The ponds are full of dead bodies. The wells have got saline water in them. And something as basic as a bucket is in scarce supply.
XAYKAOTHAO: Ireland says Oxfam has thousands of buckets sitting in Dubai but, again, they're waiting for approval to send the shipments of aid in the coming weeks.
HANSEN: If we're talking about something as simple as the availability of a bucket, how are the hospitals doing? I mean, there are reports, there are overwhelmed, doctors and nurses are exhausted in Yangon and elsewhere. Tell us what more you've heard there in Bangkok.
XAYKAOTHAO: That's right. Basically people are slowly making their way to Yangon from the delta region. I mean, it's been more than a week. People are now coming into Yangon. They're crowding into monastery schools and temporary shelters. Conditions that are obviously difficult at best.
Now, sources in Yangon say many of the people are traumatized. They also have injuries, there are lacerations from having survived the storm. Samsun Xia Chi Yumar(ph) with World Vision says a big concern is also for women and children.
Mr. SAMSUN XIA CHI YUMAR (World Vision): Food is out there (unintelligible). What has happened has happened. We won't be able to (unintelligible). But what we could save we must save.
XAYKAOTHAO: He says the situation in Myanmar is a situation that has never been witnessed before. It's a unique situation where a disaster like this at this point should have thousands of people, thousands of disaster experts in the country. But unfortunately foreign aid workers are still being blocked and only aid seems to be getting in to the airports.
HANSEN: Doualy, have you heard anything about the referendum that took place to vote a new constitution, and the fact that this still took place in the midst of this incredible humanitarian disaster?
XAYKAOTHAO: A lot of political commentators have been criticizing the government, obviously, for having held this nationwide referendum despite the fact that tens of thousands, if not millions, of people are still homeless. So, what we're hearing now, obviously, is that the vote has been a yes vote for the military, and that's not surprising.
People had expected that. In areas that the cyclone hit hardest - it's about 47 areas - they have not voted yet, but at this point, the military has essentially solidified their rule for, you know, the next several years. General elections are expected in two years. But until then it's everything's pretty much up in the air.
HANSEN: Now, with international aid waiting to get in and some aid already in the country, it must be very difficult to transport anything on the roads in Myanmar. Are you hearing that bridges have been washed out, and the flooded areas where you just can't reach anybody?
XAYKAOTHAO: Actually, the U.N. has today given us reports about roads being fixed. Passage down to the delta are more passable than they have been in the past. And trucks with humanitarian supplies have actually reached some part of the Thai border from Thailand into Myanmar, which in the past had not been the case. But today trucks have been able to get through.
HANSEN: NPR's Doualy Xaykaothao in Bangkok, Thailand. Doualy, thank you so very much.
XAYKAOTHAO: Thank you.
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