Kreung Ethnicity - United Nations in Cambodia

Krak Shrok uses a wooden stick to pierce the cylinder causing the water inside
the bamboo to flow out. The contestant who causes the most water to flow
out is deemed the loser. This test continues to be practiced until the present day.
Submerging oneself in water
Before the test, a chicken and a jar of wine are sacrificed to praise the spirits.
The Krak Shrok tells the two parties to submerge themselves at the same time
under water in the river. The loser is the party that emerges first from the water
to get air. Elders in the village affirm that they continue to practice this test today.
Sorcery
The villagers believe in Pi-u which is the bad soul of a person 22 . If someone in
the village is sick, the family will ask the fortune-teller (Me Arak) to find the
cause of the illness. Pi-u will come out through the Me Arak psychic and say
that he wants to eat an animal such as a pig or chicken and wine. The patient or
family must then sacrifice such an animal to Pi-u. The villagers believe that some
people have Pi-u which causes illness in others. However it is acknowledged
by all that this is an affliction over which the affected individuals have no
awareness or control. When villagers discover someone in the village has
Pi-u they would tie up him/her hands and then take a knife, place it on his/
her neck and pretend to kill him/her. After this simulation, they would release
him/her without harm. They believe that his/her bad soul – Pi-u, would be
become afraid during the simulation and dare not make other villagers sick.
The person who has Pi-u is not considered guilty.
Apart from Pi-u, villagers also believe in ghosts and magical individuals who
can make others sick, but the villages did not have anyone experienced
who could speak to the resolutions for such cases.
22
Pi-u is something one is born with and has no control over.
54 Kameng village, Rattanakiri province