NO TOILET HUMOUR
City’s award-winning loos a cause for pride
‘Airy” and “smelling clean and fresh” was how Nueng-ruethai Kijcharoen, a 46-year-old housewife described t he toilets at Talat Iam Sombat Market, a privately-run fresh market on Soi Sukhumvit 77, known as Soi On Nut.
“No typical damp smells, which are usually apparent in public toilets at just about any other markets. If they will continue maintaining this good standard, I’ll bet every customer will be impressed and think the service is worth paying for,” said Ms Nueng-ruethai who still shops at the market even though she has now moved far from the neighbourhood.
Located near Si Nut intersection in Suan Luang district, the market’s facilities were among the 15 winners of City Hall’s public toilet of the year awards. The market won in the category of fresh-market toilets.
The market itself looks no different from any other in the city. It’s a medium-sized market which has been in operation for more than three decades and houses 172 stalls. The market’s floor is wet and not spotless, while shoppers are a mixture of Muslims and non-Muslims. There are several Muslim communities nearby.
Yet, the market has twice won City Hall’s Bangkok Food Safety Award, once in 2011 and again in 2015. It also twice won the Department of Health’s Healthy Market Award, in 2004 and 2010.
Ms Nueng-ruethai said she was familiar with how clean the toilets are because she is a frequent shopper at the market. Anytime she comes to visit her parents in the neighbourhood, she always drops by to buy food. “Unlike market toilets elsewhere, here there is always a cleaner on duty. That’s why a good standard is maintained. I wish every market would do the same,” she said.
Wanna Charoensri, 53, who has been working as a toilet cleaner at Iam Sombat Market for five years said there are two cleaners working to ensure the cleanliness of the toilets at the market from early in the morning until evening.
She normally does the morning shift from 5am until midday, while the other cleaner works from midday until 7pm. Her duty is to always keep the floor around the toilets clean by wiping and mopping public areas and cleaning inside the toilets three times a day — at 5am, 9am and midday.
Rainy days mean more work as she has to clean up the toilets and the entire floor connected to them more often as customers tend to being mud in on their shoes.
Asked if she knew the toilets in her care had won a toilet of the year award from City Hall, she said: “Oh, yes. My boss told me so. He had emphasised that we should try our best to keep the toilets as clean as possible.”
“It’s a public service job, so we never worry about how much cleaning agents we need for the job. Especially since we charge customers 5 baht to shower and 3 baht to use the toilet, so we have to make it worth their money,” the cleaner said.
Her boss also told her that aside from the good quality products and reasonable prices, customers’ positive experiences in using the toilets at the market are one of the keys to keeping shoppers coming back.
“My colleague and I take great pride in this award and we intend to maintain this standard and keep improving no matter whether we win again or not,” said Ms Wanna.
On July 20, a ceremony was held at City Hall’s headquarters to present the toilet of the year awards to this year’s winners. They were awarded in 12 categories ranging from government office toilets to fresh market toilets.
The educational institution toilets category offered three awards and this year’s winners were Wat Bang Nam Chon School, a state-run primary school in Thon Buri district; Anglo Singapore International School, a privately owned primary school in Watthana district; and Matthayom Nak Nawa Uppatham School, a state-run high school in Suan Luang district.
There were also two winners in the hospital toilets category, namely staterun Wetchakarunrasm Hospital and privately-owned Siriraj Piyamaharajkarun Hospital. In the department store toilets category, the winner was CentralPlaza Lat Phrao in Chatuchak district.
The annual toilets of the year contest is part of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration’s (BMA) effort to ensure a “good quality of life” for all, said Thaweesak Lertprapan, deputy Bangkok governor.
The BMA is aiming to improve the quality of public toilets in 12 categories of establishments, namely religious places, petrol stations, fresh markets, restaurants, hospitals, department stores or shopping centres, government offices, tourist attractions, public parks, educational institutions, public transport terminals and roadside toilets, he said.
Since the contest was initiated in 2009, a total of 87 winners have been named, 16 of which also won in the national round of the contest organised annually by the Public Health Ministry, he said.
The four main criteria are used in judging toilet facilities are cleanliness, the ratio of toilets to users, safety measures (including toilets for people with disabilities) and a good system of hygiene.
Each year, invitations are sent out by the 50 district offices to potential competitors requesting they enter the competition. After that, a committee sends out inspection teams to give scores to each place taking part.
“We’re focusing more on building a network of establishments, both private and public, which represent the standards that others should aspire to when it comes to the provision of toilet facilities,” said Mr Thaweesak.
The BMA aims to ensure that at least 90% of public toilets in the city meet a set of basic standards by the end of next year, he said, adding that follow-up inspections are still conducted on winning entrants to ensure they maintain their outstanding standards.
The Bangkok Post recently visited a former 2009 winner, Wat Pathum Wanaram in Pathumwan district. Much to our surprise, the toilets at the temple looked even better than they did when they won the award in 2009. They were clean and dry with ceiling fans spinning, and ramps were in place for people using a wheelchair.
A staff member said two cleaners took turns working from 5am until 7.30pm daily and the temple paid a great deal of attention to the toilets’ cleanliness.
The contest is part of the BMA’s effort to ensure a good quality of life for all.