Thai School Opens Transvestite Toilet
18th June 2008
According to news reports, a school in the North East of Thailand has become the first secondary school to introduce transvestite toilets. The school decided to install the toilets after a survey of their 2,600 students indicated that over 200 of them saw themselves as transgender.
Sitisak Sumontha, who is director of the 2,600-student Kampang School, said that the move was essential to student welfare. He said: “These students want to be able to go to the restroom in peace without fear of being watched, laughed at or groped.” He also added that he thought transgender bathrooms would become a popular addition to many Thai schools.
The transvestite toilets are designated as unisex by a sign on the door that depicts a figure that’s part man and part woman. The school’s transvestite students have welcomed the installation of these toilets. One student, Vichai Sangsakul, told Thailand’s PBS news channel: “I’m happy about this. It looks bad going to female restrooms. What would other people think?”
Transgender and transvestite people are widely accepted in Thailand, particularly in the capital of Bangkok. In fact, transvestite characters are even seen on TV soap operas in this liberal country. However, the country’s rural area tends to be a little more conservative in its views.
In addition to this, the trans-friendly country also holds transgender beauty pageants. Boonlue Prasertsopar, Thailand's deputy education minister, has also said that the ministry planned to count the number of transgender university students in order to properly provide for them. He said: “If there are a lot of them in a university and it's a problem, we may have to consider building toilets and dormitories for them.”
The school is not the first institution in Thailand to build separate toilets for its visible transgender and transvestite community. Back in 2003, a 1,500-student technical college in the northern province of Chiang Mai decided to set up a "pink lotus bathroom" for its 15 transgender students.
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