The family bedroom is on the second floor. A separate section is reserved for visitors. The timbered floor has narrow space between the timbers for ventilation, and one peek through to downstairs. Pian gives me bedding which includes a pink synthetic mosquito net, a single mattress and a thick blanket. Somjit and Pian Khotaphat have a daughter, Om, who is studying in grade seven, while their son Fah has just entered school.
Visitors receive blessings from elderly residents of the village.
Apart from work in the rice fields which are a stone's throw from the house, the middle-aged couple have some farmland farther away from home. These days it lies fallow as the crop they want to grow, tapioca, is not fetching good prices. Free from working in the field, Pian makes shirts and blouses in the Phu Tai style-blue cotton fabric with white and red bands of patterns on each sleeve end. Somjit works for local forestry officials for a daily wage. There is little money, except for basic necessities.