In the violent and murderous 15 years since they seized power in Burma, the military junta has consistently lied about its intentions, and misled the country and neighbours about its actions. The secretive group of ruling generals has failed either to improve the life of their own citizens or to build security with its neighbours. Burmese are clearly worse off today than they were when the generals crushed a democratic revolt in 1988.
It is clearly necessary to remind Rangoon that the privilege of living in a civilised international society comes with responsibilities.
It should no longer be acceptable for the Rangoon regime to promise one thing and do another. Nor is it enough, as Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai seemed to imply last month, an increased foreign aid and support for Rangoon would necessarily be helpful.
Mr Surakiart was right in saying neighbours and international organisations should respond in kind to progress by the Burmese government. But to try to claim, as he did, that Rangoon has made noticeable headway on the issues of human rights and national reconciliation, only raised questions about just what Mr Surakiart has seen in Burma that others have missed.
The United Nations human rights official charged with reporting on Burma, Paulo Pinheiro, stormed out of the country six weeks ago after discovering officials had bugged his conversations. The regime won't even give a visitor's visa to Razali Ismail, the special UN envoy charged with negotiating a peaceful end to military rule. Reporters Without Borders lists 15 imprisoned Burmese journalists, behind only Cuba and Eritrea in the world.
Two issues in particular should concern Mr Surakiart, and serve as a measuring stick of the regime's performance, or, rather, lack of it. The first is a solid year of rejection of political talks with democratic forces in Burma, especially with the unrivaled leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The other is the refusal to take positive action against Asia's top drug trafficking gang, exacerbated by the close personal and political connections the generals maintain with the drug cartel.
The junta ordered the release of Mrs Suu Kyi a year ago, after she spent yet another 19 months under arrest without charges. At that time, the generals undertook to hold talks with Mrs Suu Kyi, and with the political movement for democracy which she represents. Democrats, after all, convincingly won the free and fair election the junta held in 1990 and then ignored. That promise was shamelessly broken. Last week, it emerged the dictators have not even allowed the Nobel Peace Prize winner to visit places outside Rangoon without threats and intimidation to those who wish to meet her.
The generals have simply watched, without comment, a harsh crackdown on drug peddlers and gangs inside Thailand _ a move they shamelessly demanded of the Thaksin Shinawatra government. There has been no move, reciprocal or unilateral, to help the Thai crackdown. The United Wa State Army continues to pump out the world's biggest supply of methamphetamine tablets, and to smuggle and sell them around and inside Thailand. The European Union imposes economic and political sanctions on Burma, and the US and UN also have political and trade restrictions.
Mr Surakiart is not alone in proposing plans to help Burma, instead of punishing it. On the face of it, this could be a good idea. But Burma can win respect only by giving it. When the generals begin helping their citizens and neighbours, they are certain to win respect and help.