YANGON, Myanmar (AP): When a taxi carrying two Westerners pulled up this past week at the Shwe Sin hotel at the Chaung Tha beach resort in Myanmar's cyclone-stricken Irrawaddy delta region, cheers rang out from local residents and workers.

The two were congratulated for being the first foreigners to set foot in town since Cyclone Nargis slammed ashore last month, wiping entire villages off the map and killing an estimated 78,000 people.

The disaster, and the military government's ``stay-away'' attitude toward foreign aid workers and reporters, has scared off tourists, adding to the area's woes.

Residents of Chaung Tha, perched on the western side of the delta, more than 60 miles from the eye of the storm, say no one there was killed or injured and that the hotels were undamaged.

But the fishing village-turned-vacation spot is reeling from the economic fallout of the May 2-3 storm.

``Being in this sector now is like being dead,'' said Ko Tin Oo, assistant manager of the Shwe Sin hotel. ``Now, only the pawn shops are doing good business.''

Without a single foreign guest for more than a month, the 37-year-old father of one said he had to pawn some of his wife's jewelry to make ends meet.

He blamed Myanmar's military government as much as the cruel vagaries of nature.

Seeking to keep prying foreign eyes away from the disaster's aftermath, Myanmar's embassies have been vetting visa applications with a skeptical eye, making it difficult for would-be tourists to gain entry.

Military checkpoints around the main city, Yangon, have kept unauthorized foreigners from entering the delta since the storm.

``How can foreign people come to Myanmar, even if they're brave enough?'' asked Ko Tin Oo.

Statistics on international arrivals for May were not yet available, but Oliver Martin of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, PATA, said a ``substantial decrease'' was expected.