Field studies in Cambodia and Burma have shown that many Buddhists considered the first precept the most important, or the most blamable. In some traditional communities, such as in Kandal Province in pre-war Cambodia, as well as Burma in the 1980s, it was uncommon for Buddhists to slaughter animals, to the extent that meat had to be bought from non-Buddhists. In his field studies in Thailand in the 1960s, Terwiel found that villagers did tend to kill insects, but were reluctant and self-conflicted with regard to killing larger animals. In Spiro's field studies, however, Burmese villagers were highly reluctant even to kill insects.