The Village Scouts were mustered from 1971 on to fight the
communist insurgency and the pro-democracy movement in Thailand The Village Scouts would act as "ears and eyes" of the government and report strangers entering their villages to local officials. From 1971 to 1985, more than ten million adult Thais had gone through Village Scout training, with around two million people attending recruitment sessions in 1976 alone. The Village Scouts were deployed to counter the protests of the pro-democracy and students movement. They were called via radio to occupy strategic points in all major towns during the protests against US bases in the country and against the return of ousted military dictators
Thanom Kittikachorn and
Praphas Charusathien. The probably best-known, and most impactful, mission of the Village Scouts was during the
anti-leftist rally that led to the
Thammasat University massacre on 6 October 1976, in which at least 46 people were killed and led to the subsequent coup d'état and return to military rule. The organisation increasingly appealed to urban, right-wing conservatives, gradually moving away from its poor, rural base. By 1976, the Village Scouts were a primarily urban movement funded by middle and upper-class Thais, and "increasingly took on a fascist character". The movement fizzled out during the 1980s. ==21st century Village Scouts==