The Cultural Studies Center of the Rajabhat University  in Surat Thani features a collection of four, full-scale, traditional, Thai houses of the four regions of Thailand. Each region has its own architectural style, and is most easily recognized by the style of its roof (fig.).

The first model seen in the picture above is in central Thai style, the roofs decorated with an antefix, i.e. an upright ornament at the lower edge of the roof and in Thai called ngao (fig.), which means ‘hook’, whereas the house on the right in northeastern Thai style and the roofs have an upward pointing wooden pole or pin at the ridge.

This reuan Thai, in the picture on the left, is in northern Thai style and due to the cooler climate, it has smaller windows, whereas for strength the outer walls are often built sloping outwards towards the roof, which at the ridge has an X-shaped ornament known as kalae (fig.).

The last one is in southern Thai style and here it is less adorned than the previous models, though some houses in southern styl may also have pole at the top of the gable, usually with a decorative triangular pattern of carved wood on each side of the pole.