Why are toilet doors (and other doors) opened inwards in Thailand

[Jai Dee]

The OP is correct.

 

If you google for Scandinavian house plans you'll find that most toilet doors open out.

 

Results here.

 

Perhaps the question should be "Why do Scandinavian bathroom/toilet doors open out?" as it appears that the majority of the rest of the world have inwards opening doors.

[F4UCorsair]

On Sunday, February 19, 2017 at 5:03 PM, Crossy said:

Since weitare on the subject of toilets, the hotel we use in Bangalore (India) has very cleverly designed bathrooms. It is possible to sit on the pan and throw-up in the sink at the same time, don't ask me how I know

 

Oh, and the doors open inwards :)

The definition  of happiness??

 

A dry f**t In Bangalore!

 

In  response to the op's question, In some building jurisdictions In Australia, toilet doors must open out In case the occupant collapses forward against the door making It almost Impossible to open the door.

Public toilet cubicles are usually partitioned, making access easier.

 

[SureeratTang]

On 02/19/2017 at 1:41 PM, Swiss1960 said:

Why do they drive on the left side in Thailand, UK, Australia and some other strange places?

Nonsense topic. Why we born on Earth and not Mars????

 

[transam]

32 minutes ago, Jai Dee said:

The OP is correct.

 

If you google for Scandinavian house plans you'll find that most toilet doors open out.

 

Results here.

 

Perhaps the question should be "Why do Scandinavian bathroom/toilet doors open out?" as it appears that the majority of the rest of the world have inwards opening doors.

Perhaps they have tiny loo's and the door will hit the bog....

[thaipo7]

Ever hear of Thai Logic?

[natway09]

There was some talk about all public toilets opening outward, for easy access  for help 

in case of illness. (You may be surprised  at how many heart attacks occur  on the bog)

[elgordo38]

The loo installer watched to many movies with the phrase "And don't let the door hit your whatsit on the way out". 

[cracker1]

In my country the main reasons Toilet doors open outwards is that we usually wash our hands before leaving and do not want to touch a "dirty" door.

A similar design is applied to most of our commercial buildings where the doors leading outside must open outwards in cases of emergency to facilitate easy and quick exit in fires etc. 

[ravip]

Should doors open inwards or outwards? >>> <snip>

 

[lvr181]

The ONE good reason I can think of for ALL doors to open out is safety in the event of an emergency necessitating the immediate evacuation of premises. Very hard to open a door inwards when the tide of people is trying to get out! Not that there is likely to be "a tide" in your cubicle - but adopt a standardized system. Commonsense, not rocket science!   But, TIT.

[transam]

24 minutes ago, cracker1 said:

In my country the main reasons Toilet doors open outwards is that we usually wash our hands before leaving and do not want to touch a "dirty" door.

A similar design is applied to most of our commercial buildings where the doors leading outside must open outwards in cases of emergency to facilitate easy and quick exit in fires etc. 

Hmmm, your doors don't have door knobs...?

[Foozool]

And I guess Chinese have solved this problem with "no doors".

Intelligent idea for a better life.

[hansnl]

On 02/19/2017 at 0:57 PM, lopburi3 said:

Believe handicapped toilets here open out as is normal for the world (you need extra area to move wheelchair).  

 

 

Sliding doors, maybe?

 

Toilet doors opening inward is not really advisable.

If someone gets I'll inside it is nearly impossible to get him or her out.

[Bangkok Barry]

Why do doors open outwards in Sweden when everywhere else they open inwards?

[Jai Dee]

2 minutes ago, hansnl said:

Sliding doors, maybe?

All PTT toilets for the handicapped have sliding doors.

 

[seancbk]

43 minutes ago, cracker1 said:

In my country the main reasons Toilet doors open outwards is that we usually wash our hands before leaving and do not want to touch a "dirty" door.

A similar design is applied to most of our commercial buildings where the doors leading outside must open outwards in cases of emergency to facilitate easy and quick exit in fires etc. 

 

Except the OP was not about the door into/out of the toilet, but the doors on the individual cubicles.

 

[cracker1]

6 hours ago, transam said:

Hmmm, your doors don't have door knobs...?

Yes. the inside ones are usually contaminated !

[cracker1]

6 hours ago, seancbk said:

 

Except the OP was not about the door into/out of the toilet, but the doors on the individual cubicles.

 

In many country's the wash basin is in the cubicle.

[transam]

3 minutes ago, cracker1 said:

Yes. the inside ones are usually contaminated !

Yep, so the outward opening door regarding hygiene is "crap" idea.....

 

[Don Mega]

Judging my all the houses/condo's/hotel rooms I have stayed/lived in over the past 10+years is there such a thing as just a toilet?... all I have used are are bathrooms containing shower/vanity/toilet and typically the door is not anywhere near the toilet.

[agudbuk]

You could ask the opposite, of course. I always thought that outward opening doors came from countries that suffered from snow. It did not fall into the house when you opened the door. Perhaps there are outdoor dunnies in nordic countries also?

How do you open the outward opening door against a metre+ deep snow fall

Sent from my Grand using Tapatalk

[Exnavy]

This post seems a bit like the waste matter which is disposed of within the walls of a toilet. <deleted>! 

[Grubster]

I cannot think of a good reason for the doors to open out, if you design your house correctly your door will open in against a wall on the inside and will be out of the way if left open, but then maybe you would have the light switch behind the door.

[HHTel]

On 2/19/2017 at 0:41 PM, Swiss1960 said:

Why do they drive on the left side in Thailand, UK, Australia and some other strange places?

55  'strange' countries to be exact.  Originally, everyone drove on the left.

[lvr181]

2 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Why do doors open outwards in Sweden when everywhere else they open inwards?

Swedes not unnerstan?  Same same Thai authorities?

 

 

Nah, just joking, my apologies to Swedish forum members.

[seancbk]

2 hours ago, Don Mega said:

Judging my all the houses/condo's/hotel rooms I have stayed/lived in over the past 10+years is there such a thing as just a toilet?... all I have used are are bathrooms containing shower/vanity/toilet and typically the door is not anywhere near the toilet.

 

When I read the OP I thought he was referring not to bathrooms, but to toilet (cubicles).  

On re-reading the OP I think perhaps he was referring to bathrooms, but it's not clear because he says toilets.
 

 

Anyway, in my experience all public toilet cubicles in Thailand have doors that open in.  

The door to my bathroom in my condo also open in.  

My bathroom doors in Hong Kong always opened in.

Public toilets with cubicles in HK always open in (from memory).


I'm more interested now to know if the OP mean't Bathroom Doors or Public Toilet Cubicle doors.

 

[Thongkorn]

you live in a posh place to have doors on your toilet.

[koo]

3 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

Why do doors open outwards in Sweden when everywhere else they open inwards?

They do open outwards in Finland as well.

 

Many of the reasons for the toilets have been mentioned here, but for the out doors of your house the reasons are pretty obvious:

- Outward opening doors do prevent snow from pouring in when you open it. And yes, you normally have a roof/ledge over the door so it won't pile up enough to prevent the door from opening outwards.

- Outward opening doors cannot be kicked in. This prevents most unwanted access to your premises. And yes, the hinges are on the outside, but dehinging can be prevented with security bolts behind the hinge running from door to frame. The bolts can only be removed when the door is wide open.

- For safety, all emergency exits have to open outward (even in the USA for public buildings)

 

Also in the Nordic coutries, very often the outer doors are double doors: you have the outer door opening outwards and the inner one opening inwards, and when closed, they are only 5-10 cm (2-4 inches) apart. The double doors prevent both temperature and (in apartment buildings especially) noise from going in or out.  In mosquito regions you very often also have double doors, where the outer one is an insect screen and it opens outwards, while the actual door opens inwards. 

 

[Bangkok Barry]

33 minutes ago, koo said:

They do open outwards in Finland as well.

 

Many of the reasons for the toilets have been mentioned here, but for the out doors of your house the reasons are pretty obvious:

- Outward opening doors do prevent snow from pouring in when you open it. And yes, you normally have a roof/ledge over the door so it won't pile up enough to prevent the door from opening outwards.

- Outward opening doors cannot be kicked in. This prevents most unwanted access to your premises. And yes, the hinges are on the outside, but dehinging can be prevented with security bolts behind the hinge running from door to frame. The bolts can only be removed when the door is wide open.

- For safety, all emergency exits have to open outward (even in the USA for public buildings)

 

Also in the Nordic coutries, very often the outer doors are double doors: you have the outer door opening outwards and the inner one opening inwards, and when closed, they are only 5-10 cm (2-4 inches) apart. The double doors prevent both temperature and (in apartment buildings especially) noise from going in or out.  In mosquito regions you very often also have double doors, where the outer one is an insect screen and it opens outwards, while the actual door opens inwards. 

 

Good stuff. Very comprehensive explanation. I would say though that doors inside apartment blocks also still open outwards even though there's no snow to fall in. But I guess it just keeps things simple that way. And yes, Finland too, but the OP mentioned Sweden. I've been a frequent visitor to both countries and love them. I feel so at home in Sweden I was probably a Swede in a previous life.

[KKr]

Actually, I think the doors open inwards because of the way local construction workers think.

Door frames are hammered into the concrete floor, hence the bathroom door frame is typically fixed about three to five centimetres deep into the already lowered bathroom floor (so moisture gets easy access to the wood).
Therefore, the door, in their logic, cannot open to the outside as the living area is higher. 

Please note that in virtually every house the bathroom door frame is at about five centimetres or more lower than the adjacent doorframe.
 

Where I came from, bathroom doors open to the outside. if they do not, building inspectors write a fine ticket.