Khmer New Year Games, an important part of the celebration 15 April 2003

Starting two or three weeks before the new year, young people take to the streets each night after dark to hang out, dance to traditional Khmer music, and play games such as this one using large seeds. Five seeds are made to stand upright on edge and then a team throws other seeds at them to knock them over. One team is usually boys and the other girls. The winners of each round take two seeds and clack them together on an opponent's knee. Basically it is a socially-approved way for boys and girls to mingle, enjoy each other, and to touch, a closeness that is not allowed generally in the culture.

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