The basis of Thai customs and traditions lies in family, whose structure is of bilateral descent. Like Chinese and some other Asian people, the young are obliged to pay respect to and follow the admission of parents, elders, teachers and Buddhist monks who, in the old days, formed highly educated class.

After Buddhism had been spread throughout Thailand for hundreds of years, the primitive animist belief of Thai people was assimilated by Buddhist one. Wat (Buddhist temple) became the center of the village. It was the place where people received education, attended rites and ceremonies and observed feasts and festivals all the year around.

Today, traditional Thai way of living, especially in big cities, has inevitably changed. However, it is still preserved to a large extend in the faraway rural areas, where modern civilization has failed to penetrate.