Rangoon's colonial grandeur, once indelibly marked with the architectural and cultural dreams of Europe, has largely faded into a mass of multi-storey skyscraper hotels designed for millions of tourists - tourists, however, who never arrive, discouraged by the brutality and forced labour perpetrated by the military regime against ordinary Burmese.
Two years ago in this city James Mawdsley, a Bristol University graduate, was put on trial, charged with being a mercenary.
His name may not be familiar to many, but if his family and a leading British QC have anything to do with it, James will forever be linked with the yearning for democracy in Burma.
Like many young people looking for a cause to identify with, James was moved by the story of a Burmese refugee fleeing oppression by the military regime. He decided to leave the security of his life in New Zealand and travelled to Burma to learn more about human rights abuses and to call for the release of all political prisoners.
He lived in the Burmese jungle with the ethnic Karen community, whose people have suffered gross human rights abuses at the hands of the military. It is estimated that up to 30,000 have lost their lives either resisting the military or because they have simply disappeared.
James's problems began soon after he illegally entered the country and was guided by rebel soldiers to Rangoon, where he began his protest. "I switched on my cassette player and democratic songs blared out," he wrote later. Within a few minutes he was arrested and taken away for questioning. During an eight-day interrogation he was also tortured. His situation worsened considerably when after requesting a lawyer, the trial judge was brought his cell to explain that he would also be acting as his defence lawyer.
James was sentenced to five years for illegal entry. He served 99 days in solitary confinement in the notorious Insein prison.
It might have been simpler and safer if he had decided to continue his protest from outside Burma. He might have drawn more attention to the extent of military repression, particularly since it ignored the results of the 1990 general election that gave 82 per cent of the vote to Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, if he had stayed in Britain. But when he was released from prison and flew out of Burma with his father, David, who turned to him and asked: "Is that it?" James replied: "Dad, I've only just begun."
A year passed but James felt that he wasn't doing enough for the Burmese people. "I thought he would just protest in London and write his journal, which he did, but it wasn't enough," says David Mawdsley, sitting in his west London home. So, last August James went back to Burma. It is at that moment that his account of his entry into the country and that of the military government diverge. James insists he travelled to the Tachilek border area with his passport, paid $5 to the local official and was given a one-day pass. Rangoon says he entered the country illegally and handed out anti-government leaflets.
His father says the documents he handed out "said nothing other than open the universities and do not obey illegal orders - which is not anti-government. That was enough for them to give him 17 years". He was sent to a prison in Kengtung, 400 miles north-east of Rangoon.
The Mawdsley family is resilient. "In many ways the sentence was so ludicrous it gave us hope," explains David Mawdsley. "If they'd said three years for this and four years for that, now that would have been much harder for the family to bear and for James to bear because it's far more reasonable. But this is such a ludicrous amount, pointless thinking about it."
Asked if his son was foolish, David Mawdsley is adamant. "Some people thought he was a bit crazy, a bit foolhardy. But no, he's not. He is determined - everyone is: his brother, his sister. Doesn't matter what colour or creed you are - he really genuinely believes in everyone's right, in human rights."
Eight months into James's 17-year sentence the campaign for his release is gathering pace. He is a British and Australian citizen and officials from the British Foreign Office and both embassies in Burma are working on his behalf. The family has also engaged a leading QC to lead an appeal in Burma this year against his conviction.
Until then David Mawdsley and his family must wait and hope. "James knows he's not going to do 10 years, I know he's not going to do 10 years. James is on a real one-to-one with God . . . He is prepared to sacrifice his life for this."
Rachel Donnelly may be contacted at rdonnelly@irish-times.ie