Their settlement patterns are of two types. In the second type, a circular group of houses is set among the fields or fruit trees and is connected to the main road by a path. Because most communication is by boat or foot, each house must have access to the road or waterway. The settlement pattern is more dispersed in the central plains than it is in the north, where the arrangement is more compact. The size of settlements ranges from 300 to 3,000 people.
Agriculture forms the basis of the economy, but all rural people also fish.
The principal crop grown in the heavy, dark, clay soil of the central plains area is nonglutinous rice, mainly for export. Usually, wet rice is grown in permanent fields which are worked by both men and women. Other commercial crops grown include sugarcane, tobacco, rubber, coconuts, condiments, and cotton. Crops grown for domestic consumption are yams, cassava, chilies, eggplant, and beans. Landownership however, is declining.