Since her November release from house arrest, Aung San Suu Kyi has been talking and listening to people in Burma. What she heard may have surprised her -  feelings in Burma have changed as young people desert the staid and dug-in National League of Democracy and its often intractable council of elders.

In a move that will blind side many of even her most loyal supporters, Daw Suu has announced that she "recommends" maintaining Western sanctions on Burma, because sanctions affected the military regime and their cronies and not the broader population. The NLD has "carried out a study" into the impact of sanctions and will release the report this week.

This recommendation is a surprise. It will bitterly disappoint many millions of ordinary Burmese living in grinding poverty, unable to feed their families, educate their children or plan for the future. With no industry, commerce, trade or tourism, they are stuck in a vacuum of a stagnant economy that benefits only the military and their cronies. Only a few weeks ago it sounded so different, so promising.

Sending a message to the World Economic Forum in Davos in late January, Daw Suu seemed to indicate that she had listened to those concerned with the NLD's  hidebound intransigence about economic  matters. (In last year's elections, many deserted the NLD  to vote with the economically progressive National Democratic party - formed by disenchanted NLD members. The NLD instructed its members to boycott the election).

While not mentioning the word sanctions she did urge economic involvement and investment in Burma:

We need investments in technology and infrastructure. We need to counter and eventually eradicate widespread poverty by offering opportunities that will allow the entrepreneurial spirit of our people to be gainfully harnessed through micro lending programs. We have already missed so many opportunities because of political conflicts in our country over the last 50 years.... Despite an abundance of natural resources, Burma's development has lagged far behind its neighbors.

Hearing the speech, many Burmese were thrilled at what seemed to be a veiled admission by Daw Suu that sanctions (and therefore her support of them) had failed. The listening tour she had undertaken  seemed to reap rewards - she was admitting that sanctions are unpopular and considered a failure by a new generation of urban Burmese and with millions in the countryside.

Calling for responsible foreign investment in Burma is good economics.  But a real economic and social commitment needs the abolition of sanctions. The junta still do big business - oil and gas, teak and gems  - with the rest of Asia and still use the Euro and other world currencies. The generals and their cronies monopolize all those contracts so it would be simple to conclude that given they are doing well, they would only do better if sanctions were dropped.

But small business owners do exist in Burma - mom and pop operations are the backbone of villages all around the country. If tourists are able to visit and stay in Burmese accommodation, eat at road side stalls, buy tchotkes from local vendors and ride in local taxis, a revolution - even if it is minor - would take place. And in the absence of travel being able to broaden Burmese minds, we could always hope it works in reverse.

Daw Suu has often underlined the need for her to be mindful of the duty she has  to protect the interests Burma. It is time to understand the broader picture of her beloved country and time to lift the sanctions.