The architecture of these homes is simple, without the fancy gables and decorative work commonly seen on other houses. Farm land is seen as community property that people are free to use, but not own. Villages used to be the center of economic activity, with local markets rotating among a series of villages and trading mainly with the Vietnamese and Chinese communities. Today, however, the Tho have been primarily assimilated into the Vietnamese society. Tho families are usually small and the line of descent is traced through the father.
Children begin school at six years of age and older.
There, they begin studying the Vietnamese language. Young people choose their own marriage partners, and after a betrothal ceremony, many marriage rituals are performed. The groom is expected to perform some work for the bride's family as payment. The Tho worship a multitude of gods. Traditionally, most Tho villages had temples where they worshipped a multitude of gods associated with earth, water, fire, and important ancestors.