From the mid 1960s, when central government authority was challenged in the countryside by a communist rebellion, the king's visits helped rebuff the influence of the insurgents.
King Bhumibol became an essential figure in the fight by the Thai military and its US-backers against communism, although his role became more controversial in the savage anti-leftist coup of 1976, in which dozens of students were brutally killed by the security forces and royal-backed militias, and thousands forced to flee to seek sanctuary with the Communist Party.