Sompot chong kben

Sompot chong kben (Khmer: សំពត់ចងក្បិន, sâmpót châng kbĕn [sɑmput cɑːŋ kɓən])^[1] is a unisex lower-body wraparound garment. It originated in ancient Cambodia and was later adopted in neighbouring countries including Laos and Thailand,^[2] where it is known as pha hang (ຜ້າຫາງ [pʰȁː hǎːŋ]) and chong kraben (โจงกระเบน [tɕōːŋ krābēːn]). It is most commonly worn by women, particularly those of middle to high socio-economic status.^[3]

Sompot chong kben (សំពត់ចងក្បិន)^[1] combines three Khmer words: សំពត់ (/sɑmpʊət/, sampot),^[4] a long, rectangular cloth worn around the lower body; ចង (/cɑɑŋ/, chang),^[5] to wrap around; and ក្បិន (/kbən/, kben),^[6] referring to the lower body cloth that is wrapped around the waist then pulled back between the legs and tucked in at the back. The name of this cloth, kben or chong kben, literally means "to wrap or to wear the kben" in Khmer. Chong kraben (โจงกระเบน) is used among Thai people and derived from these Khmer words.^[2]

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Deities were often portrayed wearing such clothing.^{[citation needed]}

It is believed the Khmer people in Funan first began wearing sompot chong kben after King Kaundinya I began importing a very similar type of clothing in the 1st century CE, the Indian dhotis.^{[7][failed verification]}

The back of the sompot chong kben is in reference to the tail of Hanuman.^[8][9] By the 17th century, the royal court of Siam had also adopted the sampot chong kben.^[10] In 1856, Siamese King Mongkut gifted US President Franklin Pierce four Khmer silk garments. Three were woven silk sampot chong kben in hol pattern, a textile achieved from the distinct, sophisticated Khmer uneven twill groundweave.^[11]

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  6th century Khmer depiction of Balarama wearing sompot chong kben from Phnom Da temple, Angkor Borei, Takeo, Cambodia. Now exhibits in National Museum of Cambodia.
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  Envoy of Funan to the Liang dynasty wearing a sampot chong kben by painter Gu Deqian of the Southern Tang dynasty (937–976 CE).
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  Murder of the Cambodian King and his son in 1642, from a Dutch engraving.
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  Photograph of Prince Chulalongkorn (Rama V) and his two younger brothers wearing chong kraben in 1851
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  Photograph of a 19th-century Siamese boatman, photographed by John Thomson
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  Photograph of Queen Saovabha Phongsri, principal consort to King Chulalongkorn
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  Khmer royal ladies wearing sompot chong kben and sbai in the mid-1800s.
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  Khmer woman wearing sompot chong kben
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  Mannequins wearing sompot chong kben at the Royal Palace of Cambodia
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  A Khmer traditional dancer in sompot chong kben

• Dhoti
• Sampot
• Sampot chang samluy
• Khmer traditional clothing
• Traditional Thai clothing