<div class=”artSplitter mol-img-group”> <div> <div class=”image-wrap”> </div> <noscript> </noscript> </div> <p class=”imageCaption”>Cambodian farmers have set up traditional ‘Ting Mong’ scarecrows in hopes of warding off the coronavirus</p> </div> <p>Armed with a stick, a floral-shirted scarecrow with a plastic pot for a head stands guard in front of a rural Cambodian home — a sentry erected by superstitious farmers to ward off the coronavirus.</p> <p>Known as “Ting Mong” in Khmer, the creatively rendered scarecrows often pop up in villages that have been hard-hit by infectious diseases like dengue or water-borne diarrhoea.</p> <p>This time, “I’ve set up the Ting Mong to prevent the coronavirus from threatening my family,” says farmer Sok Chany, 45.</p> <div class=”artSplitter mol-img-group”> <div> <div class=”image-wrap”> </div> <noscript> </noscript> </div> <p class=”imageCaption”>Two scarecrows stand guard in front of homes in Cambodia’s Kampong Cham province.

Known as ‘Ting Mongs’, they are meant to ward off evil spirits wishing to bring harm on an unsuspecting family by spreading disease</p> </div> <p>She has two posted in front of her wooden stilt home in Kampong Cham province, about 110 kilometres (70 miles) northeast of the capital Phnom Penh.</p> <p>The other is dressed in camo-green and implant overdenture has a stick propped like a rifle across its hay-stuffed chest.</p> <p>”It is our ancient superstition to set up Ting Mongs when there are dangerous diseases or to avert evil,” she tells AFP.</p> <p>The majority-Buddhist kingdom has a strong strain of animism incorporated into the daily lives and rituals of Cambodians, with many believing that spirits are tied to places, animals and things.</p> <div class=”artSplitter mol-img-group”> <div> <div class=”image-wrap”> </div> <noscript> </noscript> </div> <p class=”imageCaption”>Some of the Ting Mong scarecrows are elaborately dressed while others are more half-hearted affairs</p> </div> <p>The Ting Mongs are meant to ward off evil spirits wishing to bring harm on an unsuspecting family by spreading disease.</p> <p>In Sok Chany’s Trapeang Sla village, no chances are taken — an effigy is tied to the gate of nearly every home, implant overdenture though constructed with varying degrees of effort.</p> <p>Some are elaborately dressed in military uniform or floral pyjamas, while others simply have stuffed bags with sunglasses perched on them for a head.</p> <p>Farmer Ton Pheang stuffs old clothing up the arm of his Ting Mong, which is dressed in a bright pink shirt and has a helmet for its head.</p> <div class=”artSplitter mol-img-group”> <div> <div class=”image-wrap”> </div> <noscript> </noscript> </div> <p class=”imageCaption”>Ting Mong scarecrows often pop up in Cambodian villages that have been hard-hit by infectious diseases like dengue or water-borne diarrhoea</p> </div> <p>”This is my second one — the first one broke,” the 55-year-old says, korea SLA fixtures abutments adding that his scarecrow has been standing guard under sun and rain since April when the outbreak started spreading rapidly across Southeast Asia.</p> <p>”We’ve been fine since the outbreak,” Ton Pheag tells AFP.

“I’ll continue to leave it up as long as Covid still exists.”</p> <p>Cambodia appears to escaped the brunt of the pandemic, registering just 283 infections and no deaths — though sceptics say the low toll could be due to a lack of testing.</p></div>
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