Children in Bangkok
Life in the rural farming towns and villages can be vastly different from that of the cities. For many of these people, nearly 40% of the total population, their lives are based in the agricultural industries. In agriculture the daily way of life seems to be dictated by the sun, the weather, and the seasons. Here family and neighbors are depended upon to help during busy seasons and for much manual labor. This ties the family together with the community. However, wages are generally low and many families dream of sending a child to Bangkok, or elsewhere, to get an education.
Still others engage in various other ways of life; this is most noticeable in the tourist industries. While there are generally regular working hours, especially in the cities, on the southern beaches most jobs in the tourist industry are service jobs, such as housekeeping or cooking, as hours are more flexible.
Free time in Thailand is dependent on the individual and their jobs. For those in the cites with regularly scheduled jobs evenings and weekends tend to be filled with dinner, dancing, and other forms of entertainment the cities offer. For those working in the tourist industries time off varies from season to season, just as it does for many of the country's farmers.
No matter the location, occupation, or daily schedule of an individual, life in Thailand seems to revolve around family, friends, and community. This is best seen in the more rural parts of the country, but even in the cities many people work to support their families living elsewhere in the country.