Comments above about the Thai division of labour vs non-labour may have some point re Thai cities, but are certainly not the case here in Surin amongst the Thai-ified Khmer peasants (and I suspect generally in rural parts). The division of labour here is quite clear though somewhat in favour of the men on a daily basis: men own & work the land and women are expected to join in during peak periods (which mostly means rice planting & harvesting) women may or may not legally own the houses but in any case are in charge of the houses both inside & out. So rearing children, cooking, cleaning and any other 'domestic' chores are all women's jobs and men will not normally ever touch any of them. In my experience here women are highly influential in decision-making and will often do important jobs (shopping and dealing with bureaucracy) that men have no capability to handle. In my extended peasant family the women & girls are much more likely to be semi-literate than the men and are not afraid to speak up on any subject. Until quite recently if we took one of the males in the pickup we bought for him long ago and stopped at some shops or the local police station etc etc, he would sit outside waiting for us to finish business. Venturing in was much too threatening.
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