Squat Toilets, Oh My!

Whenever I tell anyone back home about the toilet/shower situation in Thailand, they almost get more squeamish about it than I do...and I live with the reality of it every day! Which, is why I had to inevitably devote a single post to what we Volunteers refer to as the squatter. I realize it's not the most intelligible nor glamorous of topics to discuss but is nonetheless part of daily life as a Peace Corps Volunteer. After all, I wouldn't be truly fulfilling my aims to share my experience without divulging into the squat toilet situation.


First of all, most of the time it is not so bad. I have become accustomed to the non-western style of bathroom facilities. In the house where I live, I have both a squat toilet and a 'bucket shower"--which, consists of a water faucet over a big bucket of water with a pale in it which is used for bathing.


Referencing the pictures above, you can see that the squat toilet is not something you sit down on, rather it necessary to hover over or squat. Like public and private toilets back home, they come with varying levels of sanitation. If I go anywhere fully knowing I will have to use a public restroom, I have adjusted to always keeping a generous supply of toilet paper and hand sanitizer since these amenities are not available in many public bathrooms. I don't have to worry if I am home since I keep my bathroom very clean and equip with necessities.



It is a bit scary that most public restrooms have no means of soap or hand sanitation around. This is scarier than not having toilet paper for the obvious reasons of spreading germs and disease. (This may also be another opportunity for a hygiene project at the health clinic in my community since some people are not aware of the dangers of improper sanitation.)


In regards to toilet paper, I realize now that it is perhaps a Western invention and if things are done right and hands are properly washed , it might not be entirely necessary. There is no doubting the pollution that toilet paper can cause which, is why most toilets in Thailand (in rural Thailand anyways) are not adapted to breaking down or properly processing toilet paper. So, what is used instead--you may ask. See the bucket of water with the pale in it on the picture to the right? You guessed it. The function of this bucket is to cleanse oneself after using the toilet. It is also used to "flush" the toilet since most toilets do not have automatic flushing systems. And perhaps also to "wash" hands--if only with water. And though I have come to terms with using the squatter and almost preferring it at time, I cannot get used to the bucket method of cleansing as opposed to toilet paper. That is what the garbage can in the picture on the right is for--for those, like me, who prefer to use toilet paper.


Actually, that is about it. Squat toilets are not necessarily less-sophisticated nor are they "primitive" means of restroom faculty. I have seen them in very modern houses of people whom I know simply prefer them over Western-style toilets and I have seen the other end of the spectrum where the squatter is extremely simplified to what I can only call a hole in the ground. It is even more peculiar and unusual that since being here of the things I have seen in Thailand that are Made in the U.S.A. , the one thing I have found with that label on it is the squat toilet. So, I have to reassure everyone not to fear or think ill of squatters because, after all, they make them in America.