[1] Myanmar (Burma) had been under military rule since 1962 when General Ne Win staged a coup against the democratically elected government of U Nu.
Democratic elections were held in 1990 where Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won an overwhelming majority.
At about 11:00 local time (16:00 GMT) on Saturday, 2 October 1999, a group of five raided the Burmese embassy in Bangkok and took 89 people hostage.
The group demanded that negotiations be opened between the National League for Democracy and the Burmese government, and that a parliament be convened based on the results of the 1990 election.
On 24 January 2000, seven God's Army and three VBSW members later hijacked a bus near the Burmese-Thai border and forced the driver to take them to Ratchaburi, where they then took over the provincial hospital.
They also wanted Thai authorities to open the border and allow about 200 God's Army soldiers to seek refuge in Thailand.