Thailand To Upgrade From Squat To Sit-Down Toilets

[eatswaves2]

Mr Happy Toilet has had a hand in this no doubt. He is an MP now after all.

Chalerms son!

I wonder who is getting the contract to supply all those toilets?

Three guesses.

[kimamey]

When will the 20 million delivered and installed ??? 1 2 3 o'clock 4 o'clock plop.

The Chinese have a man on the job right now.... tablets or toilets it's no plobrem as long as you don't mind bog standard.

Did you know it was an Irishman who invented the first toilet seat? Then it was upgraded by an Englishman who put a hole in it.

The old ones are the best. At least that's what I tell my girlfriend.

[Pseudolus]

Upgrade, as in height from the floor? With real plastic seats and lids? Somewhere to chat on the iPhone, read the newspaper, and play games on the iPad in comfort, at last? Somewhere the aged, obese, arthritic and otherwise infirm can actually emerge from unscathed?

Or will it be a high-speed-train-like upgrade from squat toilets to the Japanese-style multiple-push-button bidets now found in some Bkk shopping centers?

Oh frabjous day!!!

So you are one of those Toilet Gamers then? Sat i-padding whilst others outside are about to let loose in their pants? Shame on you.

So which politician owns a toilet manufacturing company then?

[osiboy]

Imagine queues once there is a toilet close by. There was no mention of paper and soap, items not usually available in Thai bathrooms. Upscale malls notwithstanding.

Paper and soap not available in most UK toilets either. Often the toilets in the UK don't even have seats. And visit a music festival in the UK and you'll look forward to coming back to a modern Thai squat toilet.

I don't know where you live in th UK but I for one don't see what you mention saying, "paper and soap not available in most Uk toilets".

If I did happen to want to use a toilet and there was no paper as I always check especially when in a pub, as on the odd occasion it's run out or some idiot has thrown it on the floor and pi**ed on it or it's been stolen a polite request to staff normally does the job and it's Buisness as usual.

I have seen on the odd occasion a broken or no seat and on the point of music festivals I'll agree with that one.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect App

yes,......have to agree with your points , though 20-30 yrs ago there seemed to be some right public sh*t holes about, , now most are good and usually have cleaners that have to sign a form inside the toilets to confirm they were cleaned an hour two previously, and if there is no toilet paper .......you can always use a bit of their confimation form !

[ratcatcher]

Upgrade, as in height from the floor? With real plastic seats and lids? Somewhere to chat on the iPhone, read the newspaper, and play games on the iPad in comfort, at last? Somewhere the aged, obese, arthritic and otherwise infirm can actually emerge from unscathed?

Or will it be a high-speed-train-like upgrade from squat toilets to the Japanese-style multiple-push-button bidets now found in some Bkk shopping centers?

Oh frabjous day!!!

So you are one of those Toilet Gamers then? Sat i-padding whilst others outside are about to let loose in their pants? Shame on you.

So which politician owns a toilet manufacturing company then?

]

Khun Turdsak Hongnarm-Sialaew

"Hi-So Sanitation for The Nation"

[huanga]

Pretty soon, those who have not got used to the sit-down type will be squatting at a height and bombs away....

Edited June 12, 2012 by huanga

[surangw]

most country thais don't even own squat.

[sirchai]

The number of people over 60 years old will reach 14 per cent of the population in 2015, compared with 10 per cent in 2005, according to the United Nations Population Fund.

The number of people over 60 years old will reach more than 14% of the population in 2015, as all the guys from the Philippines and other ASEAN nations will have their whole family in LOS.

Can't let them sit on a freaking French toilets......

Some might not be familiar how to use them.

A course for Thai teachers and then another one for kids and parents will solve this problem in about ten years, or so.

Edited June 12, 2012 by sirchai

[pipo1000]

Isn't shit supposed to be inside the bowl?

[BigJohnnyBKK]

They'll need training session to prevent muddy footprints on the seats.

Usually takes me at least a month to break a new teerak of that habit. . .

[sirchai]

They'll need training session to prevent muddy footprints on the seats.

Usually takes me at least a month to break a new teerak of that habit. . .

You shouldn't change them after only one month........

[Rob8891]

Guess who has just bought a large share in a toilet making factory.

Mr.XXXXXXXXXXXXX Sorry name witheld

It's not called ShinSit by any chance?

Was that a spoonerism?

[mamypoko]

Hmmmm, I wonder who has an interest in the firm(s) that make the toilets.

The population is getting older so let's start the replacement program with public schools. Nice.

Here we go

[Virt]

Will they upgrade the sewers at the same time so we can throw in toiletpaper without flooding everything.

Never get used to using the waterhose without spraying all over, but maybe i'm doing it wrong

[Virt]

They'll need training session to prevent muddy footprints on the seats.

Usually takes me at least a month to break a new teerak of that habit. . .

Maybe this sign could help?

Got it on my toiletdoor here in Europe

Edited June 12, 2012 by Virt

[DeepInTheForest]

As much as I dislike the bloody things, they are supposed to be better for evacuation of the bowels.

The point is well taken. Humans did not evolve sitting down while pooping. The modern toilet, while attractive to modern humans, is not an advance in ergonomic terms. I don't particularly dislike the older style, and I will miss the traditional design, should they all disappear. Lumbering moderns (of which I am one) may well disagree, as they are entitled to.

The real issue around toilets, no matter their design, is keeping them sanitary. Visitors to the Chinese hinterlands will understand immediately what is being referenced here. I wonder if we could not keep a few (clean, well-maintained) squatters as a reminder of our species' illustrious past habits and persistent anatomical design. If the aged population is expected to be 14%, why must all the squatters be banished? Are there any ill health effects attributed to the squat design, assuming they are properly maintained? Do they more readily transmit disease, etc., assuming both styles have hand-washing facilities?

Just wondering.

[chowny77]

I can not believe that anywhere else but Thailand would this be classed as a ground breaking story! I mean really, everyone needs to take a dump but why publicize nationally/worldwide that you now know that a sitting toilet is the way forward!!

How about Immigration offices having a computer database for all nationwide visa's for foreigners. I have never seen a country that wastes so much paper for triple copies of un-need information. Time to step out of the dark-ages and use technology that is advertised too readily on Thai TV but never concieved as implemented as a system...........baaa..........humbug........rant over.

[osiboy]

i was passing thru qatar a few years ago and as i don't like using the toilets ''in-flight'' i thought i would take my opportunity while i was @ qatar , i opened the door to the 1st cubicle to see footprints from shoes on the seat, same for the next cubicle until i had seen all 6 or 8 {not sure} were all the same , i was really pis*ed off as had been so looking forward to my dump on solid ground, ...i was off !....in search of the airport manager ...after a few enquiries i found him , in all fairness he was very sympathetic to my cause , followed me to see the evidence of stone age ppl that cant be ar*ed to lift the seat if they want to deficate and got a group of employees to hose it all down within 2 mins , i thanked him and he replied '' im very sorry sir, we have many pakistani passing thru today ''.....NOW, I dont mind sharing my world & life with other cultures/racis , but ......if they are not civilised enuf to lift a toilet seat before they deficate, airports and sea ports should have 2 sets of toilets, ....one for the flintstones and one for westerners .....end of !

[nisakiman]

As much as I dislike the bloody things, they are supposed to be better for evacuation of the bowels.

I seem to remember reading some years ago that in those countries where squatters are the norm, there is a much lower incidence of bowel cancer, since it is the natural position for complete bowel evacuation.

I don't actually have a problem with them per se, it's just the fact that all my loose change disappears down the pipe that annoys me. They're fine if you're wearing traditional Asian garb, but they weren't designed with trousers (with pockets) in mind. Or vice versa. (Trousers and squatters, I mean).

[waza]

Mr Happy Toilet has had a hand in this no doubt. He is an MP now after all.

Chalerms son!

I wonder who is getting the contract to supply all those toilets?

Three guesses.

I'm proud to be "Mr Happy Toilet" : Wan

Just years ago he was dubbed "Bad Boy", but today Wan Yoobamrung wants to call it quits with notoriety.

At 33, the son of Interior Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung is pleased with his new role at the Public Health Ministry, not only as secretary to the deputy minister: he is now "Mr Happy Toilet,"in charge of a campaign to make all toilets clean.

[KeyserSoze01]

Wouldn't you know, just when I was about to introduce the portable-crapper-seat to the Thai market, they do something like this.

[bangkokbruce]

Only took 40 years to change to sit down toilets....now we will see more cases of athletes foot fungus on public toilets seats since they are so nasty the ladies still stand on the seats. Don't forget to bring your own toilet paper.

[davehowden]

Not forget to take down trouser before full relaxation, ya?

[DeepInTheForest]

Wouldn't you know, just when I was about to introduce the portable-crapper-seat to the Thai market, they do something like this.

Perhaps a change of business plan is called for. Current market conditions may favor a shift of focus towards novelty toilet-seat covers.

[Time Traveller]

But won't this mean the foreigners will now think Thailand was once colonized?

[Time Traveller]

I can not believe that anywhere else but Thailand would this be classed as a ground breaking story! I mean really, everyone needs to take a dump but why publicize nationally/worldwide that you now know that a sitting toilet is the way forward!!

How about Immigration offices having a computer database for all nationwide visa's for foreigners. I have never seen a country that wastes so much paper for triple copies of un-need information. Time to step out of the dark-ages and use technology that is advertised too readily on Thai TV but never concieved as implemented as a system...........baaa..........humbug........rant over.

No, in Indian this would be front page news also. Remember Thailand is not competing with the modern nations, they are just trying to keep up with nations like India and China.

[T_Dog]

everybody'll squat on the plastic seat instead...........personally, I prefer squat down bogs....don't like sitting on a just used placcy seat........least of all in Asia.......so easy to catch Hep etc through small skin abrasions ...........squat downs for me .

I've seen that as well. But you know you have been living in Thailand too long when you notice the muddy footprints on the toilet seat are your own.

[crazygreg44]

Will eventually be a 50% or more failure. To introduce high floor toilet seats does not mean that there are enough skilled people who are capable of fixing the porcellain cans neatly & tight onto the ground. My bet is that 50% of these crap-cans are going to tilt loose from down under you . . . It takes a whizz-kid, proper tools and proper screws to fix the seats properly . . . .

[xen]

The places where westernised toilets will be most welcome are on the trains. (Take Note Thailand & Malaysian Railways). Squatting over a hole in the floor whilst the whole train is shaking and moving must be a learnt skill I have yet to master. Besides, too be safe, trousers/pants etc. have to be removed completely and with a dirty wet floor from being washed down by others who have yet to master crapping on a moving train squat toilet you always leave the toilet wishing you had swallowed a packet of lomitil so you didn't have to crap for the whole train journey.

[sirchai]

Why does it hurt when I pee?

Why does it hurt when I pee?

I don't want no doctor

To stick no needle in me

Why does it hurt when I pee?

I got it from the toilet seat

I got it from the toilet seat

It jumped right up

N grabbed my meat

Got it from the toilet seat...............

Frank Zappa

Edited June 13, 2012 by sirchai