PHNOM PENH - Some 37 Buddhist monks and two of their helpers have fallen ill after eating tainted food at Baray pagoda in southeastern Cambodia's Kampong Cham province, a police chief said on Tuesday.

Gen. Ben Roth, police chief of Kampong Cham province, said the monks and their helpers became sick on Monday evening, about five hours after they ate lunch at the pagoda.

"They had diarrhea, vomiting and stomachache," he said in a report released to the media on Tuesday.

The victims had been sent to a district health center for treatment and have been recovering, he said, adding that authorities have been cooperating with health officials to find out the cause of the food poisoning.

Checks on food are rare in the Southeast Asian country, where safety regulations are lax.

In February, 87 Cambodians fell ill after having tainted traditional noodle soup at a party in the southern Takeo province.