The isolationist regime in Burma indicated today it wants international relief but not foreign aid workers following a cyclone that may have killed more than 100,000 people.

Countless other victims have been left without food, medicine and shelter in the disaster.

A Foreign Ministry statement said one relief flight was sent back after landing in Rangoon yesterday because it carried a search and rescue team and media who had not received permission to enter the country.

"Currently Burma has prioritised receiving emergency relief provisions and making strenuous efforts delivering with its own labour to the affected areas," said the statement in the New Light of Myanmar (Burma) newspaper.

The announcement came as critical aid and experts were poised in neighbouring Thailand to rush into the military-ruled nation.

Burma was grateful to the international community for its assistance, which has included 11 chartered planes loaded with aid supplies, the statement said. But it emphasised the best way to help was to send material rather than personnel.

"The government will not allow outsiders into the devastated area. The government only cares about its own stability. They don't care about the plight of the people," said Rangoon food shop owner Joseph Kyaw.

Burma's state media claims Cyclone Nargis killed at least 22,997 people and left 42,019 missing, but the figures are likely to be higher.