Cambodians watching a cock fight in Kandal province
© AFP/File Tang Chhin Sothy

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - "He hit the other bird with his metal spur four times in the head," the businessman beams as he edges through the scores of punters crowded around a rough cement fighting ring under a corrugated metal roof.

"It fell down and died," he says moments after the flurry of blood and feathers that saw his bird vanquish yet another challenger.

"I feel pity to see cocks die easily during fighting, but my cocks never get hurt. They always win," Sok Noeun explains, caressing his own bird, a stout black and gold rooster with frantic eyes, its deadly legs with thin metal blades called "gaffs" tied to them still twitching.

"Honestly, I love my fighting cocks more than my children," he says, sitting at the edge of some 200 people pressed around the ring as the odds being called across the killing floor signal another fight is about to start.

"I believe they helped me win hundreds of dollars today," he says.

Weekend fight clubs like this makeshift ring on the outskirts of Phnom Penh have for years been the retreat of men and boys, mostly farmers, shop owners and low-level civil servants, with a few dollars to wager and a taste for violent spectacle.

Cock fighting illustrated on a stone wall of Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap province
© AFP/File Tang Chhin Sothy

The country's love of cockfighting goes back centuries, and is so much a part of the Cambodian soul that it has been immortalised in stone on the walls of one of the kingdom's most famous temples, the Bayon.

But while the birds are viewed in part as a means to win and lose money, some aficionados say the recent elevation of cockfighting into a big money event has transformed a national tradition into little more than bloodsport for the wealthy.

"Now it has become nothing more than gambling for rich people. They lose money without regret," says Chuch Phoeurng, a secretary of state with the ministry of culture.

Sitting in a chair on the edge of the fighting ring, police officer Seng Yu said: "Most people forget their owns traditions because they are only thinking about the money.

"The money is going to destroy our traditional game," he frets quietly as bets change hands and another fight gets underway.

Fights that were once a rarely fatal test of strength between cherished pets have become brutal gladiator matches that do not end until one bird is so badly mutilated it can no longer strike back.

Broken bones, deep slashes, punctured lungs and gouged eyes are all common injuries suffered as fight organisers rush to pair up as many birds as possible in order to keep the gamblers happy.

"People don't want to wait too long to see who wins and who loses -- fast is good for us in order to bet money," says trainer Kim Kun.

-- New legislation aims to bring order, make money --

Cambodians watching a cock fight in Kandal province
© AFP/File Tang Chhin Sothy

The government is currently drafting legislation to regulate cockfighting, hoping to bring some order to the sport as well as make some money from tournament ticket sales, officials say.

"If the (sport) is regulated, it will improve the standard of living of farmers since they will be able to raise more roosters and sell them openly at a high price," says Seng Savorn, press director at the Council of Ministers who also organises tournaments.

"The government will also earn lots of money from selling tickets," he adds.

The legislation, which was proposed by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, a reputed fight fan who hosts high-end tournaments at his country home, skirts the issue of gambling.

While cockfighting itself is legal, betting on the matches is not.

But authorities largely ignore the punters who will place money on just about anything -- from sporting events to whether rain will fall on a certain date.

A Cambodian boy playing with fighting cocks in Siem Reap province
© AFP/File Tang Chhin Sothy

Trainer Kim Kun says that these days it is the betting, with some wagers in the thousands of dollars, that is driving cockfighting.

"If we don't allow them to bet money, or we limit the amount of money they can gamble, they won't want to participate," he said.

Growing moral revulsion is also impacting the sport's popularity among a younger, and arguably more cosmopolitan generation.

"I fear seeing these cocks slashing each other, killing each other," says Thida, 28, who works with a non-government organisation.

"We call ourselves Buddhist?" she asks, expressing shock at watching a televised fight.

But Seng Savorn dismisses concerns over the cruelty of cockfighting.

"We respect the roosters' rights, and if one bird wins, it becomes a hero.

"If you view (cockfighting) in a negative way it might seem like animal torture, but viewed positively it promotes the sport," he says.

©AFP