VIENTIANE, LAOS: The Lao National Tourism Administratoin (LNTA) Sunday (18 Nov) sent a traditional boat racing team of 24 rowers to attend the Asean-Cambodia Traditional Boat Racing Competition during the Water Festival in Phnom Penh from 23 to 25 November.

The team were invited to participate by the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia .

The water festival (Bonn Om Touk), which ushers in the fishing season and marks the reversing of the current in the Tonle Sap River, attracts large crowds of locals and visitors, who gather to watch the longboat races in the afternoon and fireworks and flotillas of boats in the evening.

“We selected rowers from Thapha village in Hadxaifong district, Vientiane to attend the event in Cambodia ,” said the Director General of the LNTA's Tourism, Marketing and Promotion Department, Mr Saly Phimphinith.

“This is Vientiane 's best-known team, because they won awards at the Vientiane Boat Racing Festival last month, as well as a number of other races throughout the year.”

Mr Saly was speaking during a visit on Friday to Thapha village to watch the rowers prepare before travelling to Cambodia by bus Sunday.

Laos participated in this same festival in Cambodia in 2004, when Cambodia invited five countries from the Mekong Sub-region to attend the event.

This year, the festival will be attended by teams from all nine other Asean member countries, as part of Cambodia 's efforts to promote tourism in the country and enhance solidarity throughout the Asean region.

“We're sending a total of 28 representatives to attend the festival, with the support of state and private sectors, as well as the Vientiane Boat Racing Federation,” he said.

The Thapha team coach, Mr Syam Keonouchan, said he had been preparing for the past 20 days for this event.

“I'm confident that my rowers are fit and ready for this event, and I've got high hopes of seeing them win.”

He said his rowers were mostly farmers with more than 10 years of boat racing experience behind them, and all had been practising every day for up to five hours a day in the weeks leading up to the competition.

Mr Syam added that his rowers would face the disadvantage of having to race in a traditional Cambodian boat, which was different to a Lao boat.

“The team will have at least one day before the race to get familiar with the Cambodian-style boat, so I think this will help,” he said.

The team will send out 22 rowers to compete, with two remaining behind as substitutes, he said. (By PANYASITH THAMMAVONGSA/ The Vientiane Times/ ANN)