Asean would call an emergency meeting of foreign ministers on Monday in Singapore to explore ways to help Burma in the short and long terms, he said.

Burma’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win would brief his Asean colleagues on the current situation.

Asean has a disaster rescue team which previously had practice in only “desktop operations” rather than real situations, said the Foreign Ministry’s director of the Asean Affairs Department, Vitavas Srivihok.

“The disaster is a good chance for Asean to activate all mechanisms in the document to work in real terms,” Vitavas told a press briefing.

The disaster assessment team has one official in Burma now who had urged all member countries to dispatch more helpers. Thai officials from the Interior Ministry’s Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation would be in the team, Vitavas said.

Asean Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan is now in Washington to seek financial support from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Vitavas said Asean in fact had a fund for emergency relief but it might not be enough for such devastation.

Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who was in Naypyidaw yesterday, agreed on terms to dispatch 30 medical personnel to help survivors of the cyclone for two weeks initially at Thai expense.

Burma would grant entry visas for the Thai medical team but deferred consideration for other foreign aid workers, Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said.

Samak flew to Burma to try to convince the junta’s leaders to open up for more international assistance, notably from Western countries, after United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked him to use his influence. The Thai medical team and their equipment are due to fly to Burma tomorrow.