Much ado about BTS toilet rooms

[Thaivisa News]

Bangkok:- The Bangkok Council Wednesday urged the Bangkok Mass Transit Co or BTS to install public toilet rooms on its skytrain stations.

Bangkok Council President Kriensak Lohachala, a former BMA city clerk, conveyed the message from the council to the BTS when he and a group of Bangkok councilors visited the BTS head office.

The visiting councilors were received by BTS President Arnat Arpapirom. The group was shown the BTS control room and observed the operation of the communication signal system of the trains.

After having observed the operation, Kriengsak told Arnat that the council would like the BTS to provide free drinking water at all stations. The council also suggested that the BTS install public toilet rooms and toilet facilities for the disabled at all stations as well.

The Bangkok Council also proposed that the BTS should give special discount to government officials and BMA employees.

On weekday, Bangkok commuters make more than 710,000 trips on the skytrain system per day but the mass transport system provides no toilet rooms.

Those who have emergency case or have to answer the call of the nature will have to inform station officials at the ticket selling booth to seek permission to use staff toilet rooms on the case-by-case basis.

Most Thais are too shy to inform strangers that they need to answer the call of the nature so the issues has been widely discussed among online social networkers.

A Google search using two Thai keywords – toilet rooms and BTS – resulted in over 600,000 results.

Several online articles have been posted advising BTS commuters what to do in case of emergencies.

For example, the cosmenet.in.th website has compiled a list of nearby facilities that BTS commuters can use toilet rooms.

[fritzzz25]

"The Bangkok Council also proposed that the BTS should give special discount to government officials and BMA employees."

I am sure these government officials are lacking the funds to purchase their own fares on the BTS.......

[lujanit]

"The Bangkok Council also proposed that the BTS should give special discount to government officials and BMA employees."

I am sure these government officials are lacking the funds to purchase their own fares on the BTS.......

I am surprised that they are already not travelling for free.

[taony]

BTS always needs to be forced to do what it is supposed to.

[berybert]

Install free water machines then above them hang the sign that says eating and drinking are not allowed on the BTS system.

The BTS becomes the BTS when you walk thru the barrier. There is no room for toilets then. So let the BMA install toilets before barriers at stations that are not ajoined to malls. Many stations are now linked to mall were toilets can be used. I'm sure most people are capable of going for a number 1 or 2 before getting to the station.

As for the lychees wanting cheap travel, tell them to buy a rabbit card 1 baht saved every trip.

Edited March 26, 2015 by berybert

[sprq]

BTS always needs to be forced to do what it is supposed to.

As far as I remember, the London Underground has no toilets, and they're not common in most subway systems, so why should the BTS have them?

[Lupatria]

We can only hope they don't outsource the operation of the rest rooms to the Chinese because they offered the lowest bid. But after the entire Nation gets more and more frenchised chinchised I would not hang my hopes too high

[Searat7]

One BTS Station at Catuchuck Market has toilets.....the need for toilets should have been anticipated before the BTS was built or expanded. It is not logical or reasonable for the government to decide these are needed now unless they want to provide the funding as they are doing for the elevators.

[Jonmarleesco]

'The Bangkok Council also proposed that the BTS should give special discount to government officials and BMA employees.' Oh, yes? Presumably subsidised by the hoi polloi.

Edited March 26, 2015 by Jonmarleesco

[Jonmarleesco]

One BTS Station at Catuchuck Market has toilets.....the need for toilets should have been anticipated before the BTS was built or expanded. It is not logical or reasonable for the government to decide these are needed now unless they want to provide the funding as they are doing for the elevators.

A lot of things should have been anticipated pre-build, but weren't. And BTS management isn't exactly at the forefront of advance operational thinking, even where it involves the patently obvious.

[facthailand]

I have heard it said the reason we foreigners can buy a Senior card for the MRT and not the BTS is because the MRT is publicly-owned and funded by the BMA while the BTS is privately-owned.

I think everyone can agree that we have basic human rights to clean drinking water and toilet facilities. Of course, the BTS should provide these! They should have been in place from Day 1!

However, I'm not so sure the BMA-owned MRT has public restrooms, let alone drinking water. Do they? Where?

[dave2]

re

One BTS Station at Catuchuck Market has toilets

hes right coz i used it yesterday on the way to bang sue

dave2

[taony]

BTS always needs to be forced to do what it is supposed to.

As far as I remember, the London Underground has no toilets, and they're not common in most subway systems, so why should the BTS have them?

Even the NYC subway has toilets. Maybe london subway does too, i don't know. But bts is being sued to install escalators, can't seem to figure out that when the actually do build the escalators, there can be a staircase along it, will never replace the ticket machines that were outdated when they were installed 15 or so years ago, refuse to put six car trains into service even though the promise was to do so within six months of inauguration, etc etc.

So they suck at train service but make money for the owners bc they are the only game in town. So huge success i guess?

[taony]

re

One BTS Station at Catuchuck Market has toilets

hes right coz i used it yesterday on the way to bang sue

dave2

That's not bts

[dave2]

re

That's not bts

your right !

its the mrt line from chatuack park to bang sue !

if only some people could read the post before posting a load ofrubbish

dave2 ... back home

[Thai at Heart]

No way to redesign those spaces. Cheaper to put portaloos at the street level

[swampdonkey]

BTS always needs to be forced to do what it is supposed to.

As far as I remember, the London Underground has no toilets, and they're not common in most subway systems, so why should the BTS have them?

London underground does have toilets, But not at every station

[Deserted]

How many years for such an obvious thing?

[Crossy]

The BTS (and MRT) stations do all have toilets, just not public ones. The actual ones I've been in (not all by any means) are pretty big so it was possibly intended that they be public in the original design, so it may be possible to simply re-brand them as public if the instruction is followed through. The Purple Line also has toilets, but these are so small and well hidden that they must be staff only (there's no signage up yet).

Public toilets are increasingly rare on mass-transit systems, the reasons cited are usually security (nice place to leave a package) and cost of cleaning / maintenance.

Many of the BTS station concourses are too small for the passenger flow as it is, no space for any additional (non-profit) facilities.

[tx22cb]

If Joe Public can ride on a bus in Bangkok traffic for 30 minutes, he can take a trip on the MRT/BTS without a pee.

I'd prefer the MRT/BTS to spend this money on more frequent trains during the rush-hours, rather than politically-correct toilets for those who don't plan ahead.

[bkkjames]

Bts krungthonburi has toilets...and while the mrt at asoke has toilets, apparently you can only use them 9am to 6PM so plan your days accordingly. Start work at 9 so pass through the station at 8? So sorry, our staff don't work until 9.

[NancyL]

Once at Nana station, Hubby had an overpowering urge brought on because he'd had a medical procedure at Bumrungrad the day before and probably should have spent the day hanging around the hotel room close to the toilet instead of going shopping with me. Like most Thais, he was too shy to approach the guard, but I did and he quickly took him to use the staff toilet. The man was very kind. I don't know if it helped that I speak Thai, it was a very quiet mid-day period and poor Hubby really did look mai sabai but we really appreciated the guard's kind and understanding attitude. There was no argument, no mai mee. He just simply took Hubby by the arm and quickly led him away and offered him water afterwards.

Edited March 27, 2015 by NancyL

[dave2]

re

He just simply took Hubby by the arm and quickly led him away

have they let him out yet ?

sorry nancy ... i couldnt resist

it sounded like he took him to

dave2

[Sviss Geez]

If Joe Public can ride on a bus in Bangkok traffic for 30 minutes, he can take a trip on the MRT/BTS without a pee.

I'd prefer the MRT/BTS to spend this money on more frequent trains during the rush-hours, rather than politically-correct toilets for those who don't plan ahead.

The BTS Sukhumvit line runs every 2 minutes in the rush hours, how much more frequent could they get?

[bangon04]

Maybe if they put the extra carriage onto the trains during rush hours, people wouldn't get so desperate to use the toilet at the station....

[PETERTHEEATER]

re

One BTS Station at Catuchuck Market has toilets

hes right coz i used it yesterday on the way to bang sue

dave2

?.....and how did Sue like it?

[mike324]

please NO TOILETS, it'll make the station all smelly, better to use that money to construct lifts for stations that don't have it, which is most of stations on the sukhumvit line.

[DividendGuy]

The Bangkok Council should stop worrying about themselves by asking for a discount for their members. Who they should be asking for a discount is for any local people who are over 60 years old...you know the people who are called "senior citizens" and probably need a discount on their tickets.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The BTS (and MRT) stations do all have toilets, just not public ones. The actual ones I've been in (not all by any means) are pretty big so it was possibly intended that they be public in the original design, so it may be possible to simply re-brand them as public if the instruction is followed through. The Purple Line also has toilets, but these are so small and well hidden that they must be staff only (there's no signage up yet).

In days past, I used to hang out with some BTS staff members on a personal level, and at least at the Sukhumvit Line stations where I was invited as a guest, they did indeed have restrooms

They were/are located behind locked doors, usually in the same area as the staff break and changing/locker rooms, and used only by station staff. The way those station areas are configured now, it would be awkward/difficult to turn those restroom areas into public ones. Not impossible, but it would require some access changes.

[pitrevie]

BTS always needs to be forced to do what it is supposed to.

As far as I remember, the London Underground has no toilets, and they're not common in most subway systems, so why should the BTS have them?

London underground does have toilets, But not at every station

Yes there is one at Piccadilly very popular with gays or so my friend told me. Then there is the one at Westminster but to gain entrance to that one you first have to obtain a bank loan. It must be the most expensive public loo on the planet.