Villages are self-governed. An elected headman frequently consults with an informal though influential council of elders and monks, among whom the village abbot and schoolteacher are often ‘first among equals’. The traditional Thai respect for elders is paramount in the villages where age is considered an unfailingly accurate gauge of wisdom and virtue.

Focal point of the community, the wat symbolizes the Buddhist religion, and acts as the major unifying element, particularly during festivals and merit-making ceremonies when the temple becomes the social centre giving villagers their sense of community.

Home for a villager is a simple, usually self-constructed, house made either of bamboo with a thatched palm roof, or of wood with a roof of tin or asbestos. Generally, these structures are one-roomed affairs,

since social life is temple-centred and villagers hardly need imposing residences to impress visitors or guests. There is little privacy but it is not particularly valued in the village domestic culture. Houses adequately serve their purposes as shelters where villagers sleep protected from the weather which, except for heavy monsoon down-pours, is generally mild.

Each day, the fields surrounding the village are tended, with all able-bodied villagers pitching in during busy periods such as harvests. Despite increasing mechanization which is rendering buffaloes obsolete, rice-field work is arduous. Using methods and tools the centuries have left untouched, farmers pursue the ancient cycle of ploughing, planting, harvesting and threshing.

The village is a peaceful place, its slow pace reflecting the serene, unassuming natures of the villagers themselves. In the evenings, men gather at the temple or village sala to talk quietly. Women chat on house verandahs while children run and play in the open spaces.

Hardy individuals who daily face hazards like abrupt climatic changes, floods, crop pests and poisonous snakes, most farmers are content to earn enough to support their families. Although certainly a pleasant subject for fantasizing, and inevitably an element in folk tales and plays, wealth is not something most villagers actively crave. Contentment can be had from a well-fed family, productive land and no debts.

The natural affection Thais feel for their land minimizes population migrations. Moreover, villagers generally have little ambition to change their lifestyles. Certainly, they wish to improve them, but the vast majority are content to stay, live and die in the village of their birth, surrounded by kinfolk and neighbours.

Types of villages
Although Thai villages may differ dramatically in outward appearance and surroundings, there is a fair degree of uniformity in their size. Most contain from 100 to 150 households or an average of 500 to 700 inhabitants.

Basically, there are three types of Thai villages, the most common being a ribbon-type settlement strung along a canal or river bank (waterways remain a favoured mode of transport), or along a major highway or road. The second type is clustered and concealed in dense groves of palms and fruit trees or bamboo thickets, usually in the middle of ricefields, some distance from a rail-road, canal or road. The third type - and the word “village” applies loosely here - is found in areas where topographical features have led to sparse settlement of land, with isolated farmhouses clustered together purely for administrative purposes and inhabitants generally meeting only during festivals held at the nearest wat.