Tensions rise over UN Khon dance bid
Cambodians take to social media to condemn proposed UNESCO petition.
THE Thai government was trying yesterday to cool down nationalist sentiment over the its move to register the Khon mask dance on Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
Social-media users in Cambodia have hotly rebuked the Thai proposal, as they believe the dance is part of Khmer heritage.
Although Thailand plans to make the proposal, it has not taken action yet because the country is not a state party to the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, according to Culture Minister Veera Rojpojanarat.
“Listing cultural heritage is not equivalent to registering ownership but we want to preserve the culture. Unesco also does not prohibit a proposal of similar culture property for the list,” Veera said.
Cambodian media reported yesterday that social-media users expressed anger when news emerged that Thailand would |propose the Khon mask dance for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s list, saying the Thai version was based on the Khmer “Lakhon Khol” tradition.
Social-media postings mostly blamed the government in Phnom Penh for doing little to block Thailand’s move.
Cambodian film star and TV host Chorn Chanlakhena took to Facebook, demanding a government response to the issue. “May all of us save the art of Lakhon Khol, if we have Khmer blood and Khmer ideals,” she was quoted by the Khmer Times as saying.
“Lakhon Khol has belonged to Khmer people since the ancient times. Lakhon Khol does not belong to Thailand. If you love and want to support Lakhon Khol, please share this post so that the world will know Lakhon Khol has its real origins from Cambodia, not from Thailand,” she said.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen posted on Facebook that his government was also preparing to propose Lakhon Khol for the Unesco list.
Norak Satya, spokesman for Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, said Phnom Penh had already begun preparing the paperwork, and had made more progress on the issue than Thailand, noting that Thailand was not a state party to the World Heritage Convention.
Based on the Ramayana epic, the elaborate mask dance is performed in various similar versions in countries in Southeast Asia, also including Laos. It is called Khon in Thai, Lakhon Khol in Khmer and Pra Lak Pra Ram in Lao.
However, authorities in Bangkok and Phnom Penh said there was no conflict in proposing similar traditions to Unesco.
“It’s obvious that our neighbouring country has a similar culture. But if we look closely, there are some differences between our Lakhon Khol and the Thai Khon Masked Dance,” Norak Satya said.
“We cannot prevent other countries from having similar cultures as ours. It’s just like we cannot prevent other people from putting on the same clothes as ours,” he said.
In Thailand, Veera said countries could either jointly propose similar tangible heritage to Unesco or make separate petitions.
The traditional Korean fermented dish kimchi was proposed separately by both North and South Korea, he said.
“Countries could have different and similar cultures, which can be transferred and exchanged among people throughout history. The Ramayana exists in different countries.”
Thailand and Cambodia have sporadically been in conflict since 2008 when Cambodia proposed Preah Vihear Temple on their |border to become a World Herit-age site, a move that Bangkok opposed but failed to prevent.
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