The monks chant Pali stanzas behind embroidered fans at the home of a man who has reached his Fifth Cycle. Although there is a wide variety of village styles, each village is self-contained and after many centuries of evolution and refinement still survives in its basic form. This northern village compound is similar to the villages in the rubber plantations of the south. Young and old alike work and eat together, each contributing in their own way to the family unit. The men prepare the fields and look after the water buffalos that pull the ploughs.
Women generally do the planting and harvesting, whilst the older folk look after the children.