Cleaning Ladies inside the bathroom

[MrNeilThai]

This is the only place in the world I have visited where you go in the mens room and there are ladies right beside you cleaning the floor while you are using the urinal. I cant understand if these cleaning ladies are viewed as being so low that they don't matter. Surely they must accidentally see a lot of guys junk. On the other hand the bathrooms are always real clean and never smell bad. Also if you get a toilet it is always clean and there is never any #1 or #2 on the toilet. 

 

I have told this to people who have never been to Thailand and they don't believe it. Also, I have told it to Thai women(who never use the men's room) and they also don't believe it or don't know about it. 

 

How do you feel about this? Are you in disbelief. Is a price worth paying to have super clean bathrooms?

 

 

Edited May 1, 2017 by MrNeilThai

[ukrules]

No big deal, you get used to it after a while, like a few seconds on your first trip to Thailand.

 

[FritsSikkink]

I don't care about a lady being there, I do care about clean toilets.

[Crossy]

Not unique to Thailand, much of Asia is the same. I've not been everywhere but Korea, Hong Kong same, same, not so sure about Singapore and Malaysia (it was a while back).

 

My first experience was in Korea back in the mid 90's. Yes it was a bit of a shock to find the cleaner mopping around your feet whilst taking a pee but not nearly as big as the shock of a guy giving you a neck rub in the same location (Philippines) not to mention the unisex lav in the Seoul Pub (not changed since 1995, I was there last year).

 

I always have a smile for the cleaners, they do a thankless task.

 

 

 

[ezzra]

Cleaning ladies in the toilet are just another fixture of the place, and believe

me you can go about your business as usual as to them you don't exist...

[Pdaz]

12 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Not unique to Thailand, much of Asia is the same. I've not been everywhere but Korea, Hong Kong same, same, not so sure about Singapore and Malaysia (it was a while back).

 

My first experience was in Korea back in the mid 90's. Yes it was a bit of a shock to find the cleaner mopping around your feet whilst taking a pee but not nearly as big as the shock of a guy giving you a neck rub in the same location (Philippines) not to mention the unisex lav in the Seoul Pub (not changed since 1995, I was there last year).

 

I always have a smile for the cleaners, they do a thankless task.

 

 

 

Yes, totally normal in Asia. Been to a few places in Indo and the PI where women were walking through the mens urinal area to access the their toilet stalls. Pretty funny to be in the process of peeing when another female customer walks past and smiles at you. Female cleaners at the airport and many of the shopping malls always seem to be around when I'm relieving myself. 

 

I remember nearly lamping a male toilet attendant in HK years ago. I pretty much jumped out of my skin when he came up behind me to give a neck massage as I was peeing. My shocked reaction was quicky rotate around and be ready to defend myself having never encountered thatv level of service before.

[Pacificperson]

My biggest shock was when the male attendant in the basement of a sky scraper in Hong Kong used his hands to wash my hands after doing my duty. As he was of limited mental capacity, I did not object and left him a tip.

Edited May 2, 2017 by Pacificperson
clarity

[jeab1980]

Not a big deal at all in fact i dont even notice them now. But the toilets are usualy spotless. As has been said not unusual in Asia. As for the thai women you have talked to i suspect they are just shy and dont want to engage in a toilet topic.

[Salerno]

No big deal and certainly not all that unusual; first time I came across it was actually in Spain around '78. 

[Peterw42]

I dont think twice about it now, but I recall the first time I encountered it. OMG, have I walked into the womans bathroom by mistake, did I not notice the closed for cleaning sign etc. Then some very quick logical thinking, there is a urinal therefore it must be the mens, other men are going about there business its not closed etc. The only thing I do now is triple check the lock on the stall, just in case she wants to do a quick mop whilst I am seated.

I live in fear of the stall door being opened, lady motions me to lift my feet so she can mop, lean forward so she can mop the rear of the stall etc. 

Edited May 2, 2017 by Peterw42

[worgeordie]

The worse thing is if they start to laugh,when they see what you

have in your hand.

regards Worgeordie

[jeab1980]

1 minute ago, worgeordie said:

The worse thing is if they start to laugh,when they see what you

have in your hand.

regards Worgeordie

Well they may in some cases

[Peterw42]

3 minutes ago, worgeordie said:

The worse thing is if they start to laugh,when they see what you

have in your hand.

regards Worgeordie

Even worse if you consider the 1,000s of things they have seen over the years.

[kannot]

im applying for the job in the womens toilets to do the same

[Dmaxdan]

A few years ago I paid a visit to a lavatory connected to a bar in Chiang Mai. I noticed a Thai man sitting on a stool as I walked in, an just thought  he was an attendant of some sort and paid him no heed. So I'm standing at the urinal and the guy sneaks up behind me an starts massaging my neck an shoulders, He actually cracked the bones in my neck, and I almost peed allover the floor. I honestly thought I was being mugged. I didn't give him a tip....


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

Edited May 2, 2017 by Dmaxdan
not finished

[Berkshire]

The OP's observations are a classic example of western sensitivities and his own ethnocentrism.  When I first got here, I thought it a bit odd as you wouldn't see such in thing in the USA.  But it never bothered me much and today, it's such a non-issue that I can't believe anyone would be bothered.  These women are just cleaning the restroom, not sizing you up.  The OP's got a little paranoia thing going on.

[Speedo1968]

Some hospitals here have unisex toilets but how often do you see men cleaning them ?

Guess it's a screwed kind of sex discrimination when it comes to keeping the place clean;

of course I understand and accept that women require, out of courtesy,

more privacy.

[simon43]

Quote

 I cant understand if these cleaning ladies are viewed as being so low that they don't matter.

I consider cleaning ladies in the toilets on a similar social level as garbage collectors ==> they are doing a very important job that many others would not do, and deserve my respect and politeness.

 

Or would you prefer a dirty toi;et and garbage-strewn roads?

Edited May 2, 2017 by Crossy
fixed the quote

[fishbrando]

From Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!; Feynman and a colleague are staying at a traditional Japanese hotel in Kyoto:

 

The next morning the young woman taking care of our room fixes the bath, which was right in our room. Sometime later she returns with a tray to deliver breakfast. I'm partly dressed. She turns to me and says, politely, "Ohayo, gozai masu," which means, "Good morning."

 

Pais is just coming out of the bath, sopping wet and completely nude. She turns to him and with equal composure says, "Ohayo, gozai masu ," and puts the tray down for us.

 

Pais looks at me and says, "God, are we uncivilized!"

 

We realized that in America if the maid was delivering breakfast and the guy's standing there, stark naked, there would be little screams and a big fuss. But in Japan they were completely used to it, and we felt that they were much more advanced and civilized about those things than we were.

 

[connda]

You are being a victim of your own rather puritanical cultural conditioning.  Considering this is not your home country, I suggest you get use to the local culture and customs, and find a way to get over your problem.

Personally, I could care less.  But then again, I've never been hung-up about trivial things such as the gender of the person cleaning a restroom.  

[BWPattaya]

First time I saw females in a Men's toilet was in Holland in 1985. Nowadays I just accept it as normal. 

[jesimps]

It has the same effect on me as someone reading the newspaper over my shoulder. I don't like it, but having spent most of my adult life out east, I've learned to live with it.

 

I normally use a trap if there's one available.

 

Now if they want to share a shower with me.......

 

Edited May 2, 2017 by jesimps

[Suradit69]

6 hours ago, MrNeilThai said:

This is the only place in the world I have visited where you go in the mens room and there are ladies right beside you

Obviously you haven't traveled much.  There are even places in farangland where you can pee on the street with crowds passing by. I'm assuming you're from somewhere like Utah or North Dakota??

 

 

 

 

 

[Suradit69]

35 minutes ago, connda said:

You are being a victim of your own rather puritanical cultural conditioning.  Considering this is not your home country, I suggest you get use to the local culture and customs, and find a way to get over your problem.

Personally, I could care less.  But then again, I've never been hung-up about trivial things such as the gender of the person cleaning a restroom.  

" I've never been hung-up"

Pun intended ??

 

It really comes down to a question of "does size matter" and the fear of hearing the restroom attendant chuckling.

 

 

Edited May 2, 2017 by Suradit69

[Pungdo]

Many years ago in Korea, pissed as a parrot I tripped on the small step going into the toilets at a very big hotel and ended up face to face with an old woman on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor, it seems to be the case all over Asia that women are in the mens cleaning at any time.

[Inepto Cracy]

Last Tuesday, after living here for 11 years, was the first time I experienced an unusual sight. Standing at the urinal a very attractive "lady" ended up standing next to me and started to pee. Not unusual but it was the first time a "lady" boobs and all, stood up to use a man bit.

Katoey's in the mens room is unusual.

As for the cleaning ladies, not a problem, but make sure there are others in the toilet too.

If you are alone and she just screams, you could be falsly accused of molestation or rape.

I just dont take a chance here.Be aware of your suroundings.

 

 

 

[claffey]

8 minutes ago, Inepto Cracy said:

Last Tuesday, after living here for 11 years, was the first time I experienced an unusual sight. Standing at the urinal a very attractive "lady" ended up standing next to me and started to pee. Not unusual but it was the first time a "lady" boobs and all, stood up to use a man bit.

Katoey's in the mens room is unusual.

As for the cleaning ladies, not a problem, but make sure there are others in the toilet too.

If you are alone and she just screams, you could be falsly accused of molestation or rape.

I just dont take a chance here.Be aware of your suroundings.

 

 

 

Ridiculous! Talk about being paranoid! You've been here 11 years and you are still applying western logic to stuff that happens here...

[ianuk06]

I first experienced it in Helsinki, Finland in the 1980s. Definitely not peculiar to Thailand.

[MrNeilThai]

7 hours ago, MrNeilThai said:

This is the only place in the world I have visited where you go in the mens room and there are ladies right beside you

From Suradit69:

Obviously you haven't traveled much.  There are even places in farangland where you can pee on the street with crowds passing by. I'm assuming you're from somewhere like Utah or North Dakota??

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Suradit 69

 

I am sorry that you are so miserable as to need to insult someone based on one line from their posting. Try reading the whole thing next time. The intent of the post was to spark a discussion.  The post highlights some of the perceived pros and cons of this practice.

 

The reason for the posting is that I often welcome guests to Thailand that haven’t been to Asia before and this is something everyone always mentions. No one has any serious problem about it however they are not used to it therefore it comes up in conversation.

 

It shows low character to make fun of someone for being from Utah or North Dakota. For one nobody can control where they are from.  It is also of low character to insult someone for not traveling a lot. 42 million Americans suffer from hunger.  Travel is not a necessity or possibility for a large percentage of people alive today.

 

BTW: I am from neither place you have mentioned and have been fortunate to be able to travel to a substantial number of countries in my life.

I hope you find happiness.

Edited May 2, 2017 by metisdead
Bold font removed.

[csabo]

Maybe it's time to grow up and stop looking down on people who work for a living.