The news was announced at a Department of Tourism and Sports meeting held at the Royal Phuket City Hotel in Phuket Town today (Oct 2).
Leading the meeting was Wanthana Jangprajack, Director of the Division of Tourism Service Development under the Ministry of Tourism & Sports in Bangkok.
Joining Ms Wanthana were representatives from government offices and the private sector.
Ms Wanthana explained that the issue was one of “confidence”.
“We understand the importance of the fundamental standards to guarantee that tourists are confident when travelling in Thailand. Public toilets are one of them,” Ms Wanthana said.
“There are not enough public toilets at many tourism destinations. Some public toilets already in place do not match hygiene, safety and security standards. Some toilets lack facilities for elderly and disabled people,” she added.
Ms Wanthana also noted that the problem may be that the standards set for public toilets might not meet modern expectations.
“The Department of Tourism has a public toilet standard which has been in use since 2005. However, through public toilet standard evaluations we have found that these standards have many limitations. The standards need to be reviewed again in order to match current expectations,” Ms Wanthana explained.
“We are working with Kasetsart University Kamphaeng Saen Campus [in Nakhom Pathom] to review these current standards.
“Comments and suggestions [from the meeting today] will be considered by the review team to improve the quality of our public toilets so they meet international standards,” Ms Wanthana said.