November 30, 2022

RABAT, MOROCCO – On November 29, 2022, UNESCO, the cultural arm of the United Nations, officially inscribed Cambodia’s Kun L’Bokator on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (ICH).  (https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/kun-lbokator-traditional-martial-arts-in-cambodia-01868).  Bokator’s quest for UNESCO recognition has been a long one, as Cambodia’s initial application was submitted to the world cultural body in 2008. For a nation whose cultural identity was devastated by genocide only a generation ago, this milestone in their cultural revival is of tremendous significance.   

The traditional Cambodian fighting style becomes one of only a handful of Cambodian cultural heritage assets to make it onto the World Heritage List. The majestic Cambodian temples of Angkor Wat, on which the techniques of Bokator are carved, were inscribed in 1992.  Angkor is the spiritual and cultural heartland for the Cambodian people, and Asia’s leading archeological site for tourism. Bokator’s UNESCO declaration inflamed a deep rooted culture war between Cambodia and its neighbour Thailand, on the legitimacy and origins of their respective traditions, including Thai and Khmer martial arts. Surviving Bokator, likely because of its title and subject matter, became the target of anti-Cambodian hate attacks by Thai nationalists on social media.  The attacks flooded the film’s comment boards and made efforts to drive down the film’s high audience ratings on platforms like IMDB.