Myanmar's junta said on Friday it was grateful to the international community for its assistance, which has included 11 chartered planes loaded with aid supplies. But the best way to help was to just send in material rather than personnel, the junta said in a statement.

It said one relief flight was sent back after landing in Yangon on Thursday because it carried a search and rescue team and media who had not received permission to enter the country. It did not give details, but said the plane had flown in from Qatar, which apparently referred to a UN flight.

AUSSIE PM SLAMS JUNTA

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Friday thr junta's response as appalling, as he pushed for greater foreign access to the disaster zone.

'The Burmese regime is behaving appallingly,' Mr Rudd told commercial radio in Brisbane. 'This was an extraordinary reaction.'

He blamed Myanmar's response to the natural disaster on what he termed an authoritarian regime 'which doesn't welcome any substantive or significant recognition of its problems'.

'In the international recognition, I presume it concludes, it de-legitimises the regime internally,' he said.

'The obscenity of this is that, the people who pay the price are the poor Burmese people,' he said, alluding to the country's former name.

'So you have got the international community lined up ready to help... All ready to help, all being frustrated by the actual regime itself.'

More than 62,000 people are known to have died or are missing from Cyclone Nargis that hit the country's Irrawaddy delta on Saturday. Ms Shari Villarosa, who heads the U.S. Embassy in Yangon, said the number of dead could eventually exceed 100,000 because of illnesses.

MYANMAR VISA OFFICE CLOSED

Myanmar has refused to grant visas to foreign aid workers who could assess the extent of the disaster and manage the logistics.

Mr Paul Risley, a spokesman for the UN World Food Programme, said the organisation has submitted 10 visa applications around the world, including six in Bangkok, Thailand, but that none has been approved.

Even if the government changes its mind, there is no hope of getting any visas in Bangkok until Monday because of a Thai holiday Friday that has shut the Myanmar Embassy, Mr Risley said.

'The frustration caused by what appears to be a paperwork delay is unprecedented in modern humanitarian relief efforts,' said Mr Risley, who is based in Bangkok. 'It's astonishing.'

'We strongly urge the government of Myanmar to process these visa applications as quickly as possible, including work over the weekend,' he said.

THAI FM: JUNTA MAY CHANGE ITS MIND

But Thailand's Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said on Friday that Myanmar is becoming "more flexible" and plans to accept international aid.

Mr Noppadon said he spoke by telephone with his counterpart from Myanmar, Nyan Win. "His position, or the tone of his voice, is getting more flexible. He will welcome humanitarian assistance," Noppadon told reporters in Tokyo.

"I'm sure they would welcome international humanitarian assistance," he said. -- AP, AFP