In the late 1980s, the nuclear family, consisting of a husband and a wife and their unmarried children, probably continued to be the most important kin group within Khmer society.
Most Khmer genealogies extend back only two or three generations, which contrasts with the veneration of ancestors by the Vietnamese and by the Chinese.
[1] The individual Khmer is surrounded by a small inner circle of family and friends who constitute his or her closest associates, those he would approach first for help.
In rural communities, neighbors—who are often also kin—may be important, too, and much of housebuilding and other heavy labor-intensive tasks are performed by groups of neighbors.
In rural Cambodia, the strongest ties a Khmer may develop—besides those to the nuclear family and to close friends—are those to other members of the local community.
There is much sharing of religious life through the local Buddhist temple, and there are many cross-cutting kin relations within the community.
The priesthood served only males, however, while membership in some components of the armed forces and in the civil service was open to women as well.
[1] Two fictive relationships in Cambodia transcend kinship boundaries and serve to strengthen interpersonal and interfamily ties.
The kloeu relationship apparently is limited to some rural parts of Cambodia and to Khmer-speaking areas in Thailand.
At this stage in their lives, they enjoy a position of high status, they help care for grandchildren, and they devote more time in service to the wat (temple).