It's official: Thai toilets need to be cleaned

Bangkok – Relevant agencies have launched the nationwide campaign for public toilet cleaning ahead of Songkran festival.

The campaign, jointly carried out by the Public Health Ministry, the Tourism and Sports Ministry, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and other agencies, is being implemented on April 1 – 7.

Public Health Minister Rajata Rajatanavin said the authorities have projected about three million tourist arrivals for the five-day Thai New Year celebrations.

Based on a survey done by the Health Department, public toilet cleanliness is the top priority and necessity demanded by Thai and foreign travellers.

Rajata said he expected the campaign to boost the convenience of tourists as well as helping to raise awareness on hygiene and cleanliness as a preventive measure for contagious disease control.

The Health report has indicated that among public toilet facilities in the survey sampling, toilet spray hose is most prone to spread disease (85 per cent), followed by toilet floor (50 per cent), toilet seat (31 per cent), flushing handle and men urinal (8 per cent) and washing faucet (3 per cent).

The promotion of toilet cleanliness will target 12 public places, including education institutions, government agencies, hospitals, temples, petrol stations, tourist destinations, parks and shopping malls.

The other public places are restaurants, markets, passenger terminals and roadside toilets.

The campaign criteria include good hygiene, accessibility and safety.

A standard public toilet should have full facilities in working order, no foul smell and good lighting. The facilities should be accessible to the handicapped and separated by gender.

Tourists demand clean toilets in petrol stations as the topmost priority, followed by those in popular destinations and in passenger terminals.

With 400,000 Chinese due to come for the Songkran holidays, wonder how long that will last?

lol remember a while back where i have shop,behind is a massage parlour for chinese trippers,well they obviously had the right idea and ripped out the european toilets and replaced em with squatting holes,i'm no squatter so i use the posh hotel toilets instead situated beside parlour.

Good initiative......hope they carry it on.

Just a small request from me please;

Can you ask the female toilet attendants not to come and watch me when I'm urinating?

I know....I'm asking for a lot.........but may be one day...................

Maybe she is impressed.

How about do this every week of the year! And maybe hire prettier attendants, so we have something nice to look at while urinating. 555

Jesus, Costas. You're a needy <deleted>.

lol remember a while back where i have shop,behind is a massage parlour for chinese trippers,well they obviously had the right idea and ripped out the european toilets and replaced em with squatting holes,i'm no squatter so i use the posh hotel toilets instead situated beside parlour.

It isn't difficult to change the toilet style......Can do every way...

Good initiative......hope they carry it on.

Just a small request from me please;

Can you ask the female toilet attendants not to come and watch me when I'm urinating?

I know....I'm asking for a lot.........but may be one day...................

She just wanted to check, if her friend was telling the truth:

"Farang 3 new"............

Over the last 13 years or so I have seen an improvement in Toilets, especially in Bangkok. The squatters are fewer than before and cleaner. I still get frustrated when I see foot prints on a western style toilet though. As Thais are getting bigger in general, I certainly a big ass, can we see bigger toilets seats and ones that are a little higher. Then I will be very pleased.

Over the last 13 years or so I have seen an improvement in Toilets, especially in Bangkok. The squatters are fewer than before and cleaner. I still get frustrated when I see foot prints on a western style toilet though. As Thais are getting bigger in general, I certainly a big ass, can we see bigger toilets seats and ones that are a little higher. Then I will be very pleased.

What is bigger? You mean you need a more elongated bowl, don't you?

This should be post in the World News section

I would much rather have female cleaners than male cleaners in attendance while I do my thang.

I would much rather have female cleaners than male cleaners in attendance while I do my thang.

You want to hit the ceiling, no doubt.

Clean-up the toilets for the upcoming holidays; after the holidays, it's back to normal. Same ol' sh&t.

Over the last 13 years or so I have seen an improvement in Toilets, especially in Bangkok. The squatters are fewer than before and cleaner. I still get frustrated when I see foot prints on a western style toilet though. As Thais are getting bigger in general, I certainly a big ass, can we see bigger toilets seats and ones that are a little higher. Then I will be very pleased.

What is bigger? You mean you need a more elongated bowl, don't you?

ELONGATED in which direction? Or should we say deepened?

How about a sink with Soap, Next to it...

I'm sure the Japanese are very impressed with the Thai toilets..

from this Japanese masterpiece to the one in the post...

Any improvement is appreciated. As for the cleaners, they are appreciated by this reader for keeping the place clean...regardless of their gender.

Here I sit, broken-hearted,

Paid my penny and only farted.

I can tell you that the Chinese will have no problem with Thai toilets. Having lived 20 years in China, I can confirm that Chinese toilets are easily the dirtiest, smelliest and most unhygienic toilets in the world!! The tourist will marvel at the Thai toilets - believe me!!

Here I sit, broken-hearted,

Paid my penny and only farted.

Remember that from my schooldays - unfortunately now "spending a penny" is a thing of the past - no s^&t!

So the toilets were not cleaned because Thailand was under Martial law ?

Good initiative......hope they carry it on.

Just a small request from me please;

Can you ask the female toilet attendants not to come and watch me when I'm urinating?

I know....I'm asking for a lot.........but may be one day...................

just turn around and wai!

The Fun & Joy of Using a Thai Toilet

The Thai Toilet

Placement of Feet

Aiming Point

The Thai Toilet

The average Thai toilet will not be as clean as the one pictured on the left, whether you are in a Thai cafe, Thai bar or Thai restaurant the odds are stacked against you finding a toilet with a toilet seat, or toilet paper or even a sink sometimes.

Generally it's going to be hot and wet in there, and you can only hope and pray that it has a bum gun for cleaning up afterwards.

Preparing Yourself for the squat

If you are old, infirm or overweight you may need someone to help you with this, basically you need to place your feet where the red arrows are and aim for the green arrow, this is actually harder than it looks so you will have to be prepared to readjust your aim.

So first things first, if the floor is wet it maybe an idea to take off most of your clothes, you will usually find a nail in the door to hang them from, it's probably at this stage that you will be thankful that you wore underpants or socks, if you didn't you are going to have to think of a different way for cleaning your bottom afterwards.

Tips and Tricks

As you can see in the 3rd picture the hole in the toilet is very small, if you have recently eaten a nice Sunday lunch with roast beef, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and lashings of gravy you may find that the hole is not going to be able to deal with what you are about to try and force down it, remember these were designed for people that eat a plate of rice and some veg and a bit of meat, trying to get a kilo or more of poo down it in one go just isn't going to work, between purges it is a good idea to pour a bowl or two of water into the toilet to help against blockages.

Readers Tips and Tricks

Mr Hillbilly

Make certain that before one does any business in the stall is to make positive the bum gun works and if not there is adequate toilet paper.

I have err, donated several pairs of boxers in the bin do to the fact that the needed resources were not checked out prior to the deed.

Mrs Landreth

Some other things to do while in a Thai bathroom (with a squatting toilet).

Your bare feet never have to hit the wet floor/toilet. Slip your shoes/sandals off while you undress, but step on top of them while doing everything,.redressing/undressing yourself and squatting (slip them back on). Might be a bit more difficult if youre female and wearing heals.

Mr Fred

To use one, I find it best to completely remove your trousers and underwear before squatting down and doing your funky stuff.

New visitors to Asia often find a greater need for being close to a toilet after eating spicy food.

Because you may have to remove your trousers quickly due to the spicy food, its better not to leave things until the last moment.

The laundry services may not be keen on serving you if you leave things too late too often.

These squat toilets sometimes have a bum hose to clean the clingy bits of crap away but most just have a container of water and a scoop.

The idea is you splash water on your arse and use your left hand to scrape away any loose offerings.

Many westerners find this a bit off putting so I usually suggest having a pack of soft table napkins with you at all times.

These napkins are also handy when eating with your hands as the restaurants usually provide just a few very thin tissues and double up very nicely as arse wipes.

It is not advisable to use these as generally they are really rough and very thin.

Public toilets rarely have soap to wash your hands so its a good idea to have some in your day bag. I usually pinch the small ones from hotel bathrooms.

Almost all expensive hotels have sit down toilets but cheaper hotels/guesthouses and public toilets will most likely be squats.

Newer shopping centers usually have some of both but older places will usually just have squat toilets.

Mr Kurgen

By the time you reach the point of no return just pray for paper and bum guns.

Mr Landreth

When looking for the right toilet to use,.make sure there is a hook on the back of the door or on the wall in your bathroom cubicle so you can hang your pants/shorts (if you remove them, like I do) and do not toss the pants over the door (or place them on the floor next to the bottom of the door) because they can be stolen.

"The Health report has indicated that among public toilet facilities in the survey sampling, toilet spray hose is most prone to spread disease (85 per cent), followed by toilet floor (50 per cent), toilet seat (31 per cent), flushing handle and men urinal (8 per cent) and washing faucet (3 per cent)".

Wow....that adds up to 177%.....beat that if you can?..... Not bad....how one can get 177 out of a hundred.

Does anyone else think it is strange that the TAT doesn't encourage cleanliness or even think of mentioning it, yet a ministry of health has to tell people what tourist want?

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Good initiative......hope they carry it on.

Just a small request from me please;

Can you ask the female toilet attendants not to come and watch me when I'm urinating?

I know....I'm asking for a lot.........but may be one day...................

Had to chuckle when I read your post. Happens to me more often than I care to think about and usually "on the road" stopping off at a PTT for a bio break. How many times I've seriously considered turning for the shock value of it!

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

Good initiative......hope they carry it on.

Just a small request from me please;

Can you ask the female toilet attendants not to come and watch me when I'm urinating?

I know....I'm asking for a lot.........but may be one day...................

Had to chuckle when I read your post. Happens to me more often than I care to think about and usually "on the road" stopping off at a PTT for a bio break. How many times I've seriously considered turning for the shock value of it!

Better not! You may be the one who gets the shock, from a ladyboy cleaner...?

.........and what about the asses?.......I see a lot of people walking funny after visiting one of these facilities. Like in India and Egypt, Its not wise to shake hands in these parts of the world! You never know who is right handed or left handed.