text: Historical event Boat racing is believed to have been celebrated in Cambodia since at least the reign of Jayavarman VII in 1181 AD. This was likely to commemorate the heroic victory of the Khmer navy, which liberated their land from the Cham troops of the Champa Kingdom in a boat battle on the Tonle Sap Lake.
  Literary record
  According to the record of Thach Pen alias "Piko (Pang Khat)" from the Khleang Province (Soc Trang), Kampuchea Krom (Southern Vietnam), in 1528 AD, King Ang Chan I ordered Ponhea Tat, the commander of the Khmer navy in the Bassac District of Kampuchea Krom, to prepare the Khmer army to defend the province of Preah Trapeang (Tra Vinh, Vietnam), which was under attack from the Đại Việt kingdom under Mạc Đăng Dung.
  The naval boats were divided into three groups:
  Group 1, called the "Toap Srouch", or vanguard, with boats shaped like modern racing boats called Ngor boats.
  Group 2, called the reserve army, with two rows of rowing boats shaped like modern stand racing boats.
  Group 3, called the Bassac Troops, was a large, very long open boat with a roof across the front, oars, and sails, shaped like the Bassac boat, called the Pok Chay boat. The boat was only used at night with lanterns, as a food supply boat for the army, delivering rice from Kampong Chhnang to Kampuchea Krom in Preah Trapeang Province until the Cambodian navy won.