The Village Scouts were mustered from 1971 on to fight the communist insurgency and the pro-democracy movement in Thailand as well as the progressive Farmers' Federation of Thailand. They were modeled on the "grass roots" defense organizations in South Vietnam. At their core were rich and independent farmers. The Village Scouts were organized in small cells, usually commanded by an urban right-wing politician. They were taught to oppose "radical elements", and to defend Thailand's symbolic trinity of nation-religion-monarchy. Directly controlled by the Ministry of Interior and sponsored by rich royalists in the cities, the Village Scouts' supreme patron was King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The king and the royal family visited Village Scout units to bless their scarves and flags. The Village Scouts would act as "ears and eyes" of the government and report strangers entering their villages to local officials. A short time after the establishment of the Village Scouts, over five million Thais, or 10 percent of the population, had completed the organization's five-day training course. From 1971 to 1985, more than ten million adult Thais had gone through Village Scout training.