Don't want to share a toilet with Chinese tourists? Famous Thai temple to build one for everyone else
At a famous temple in northern Thailand, Chinese tourists will get a toilet all to themselves.
Why? Because they have messed it up so badly that it has become unusable for everyone else, temple officials said according to German news agency DPA.
Wat Rong Khun (better known as the White Temple) in Chiang Rai will be adding new toilets just for Thais and other non-Chinese tourists, DPA reported on Saturday.
Temple officials said the move was to address complaints about alleged grossly inconsiderate behaviour by Chinese tourists.
An official who requested anonymity was quoted as saying:
"They had defecated on the floor, urinated on the walls outside and left sanitary pads on the wall of the bathrooms."
The temple’s designer, Chalermchai Kositpipat, said in a television interview that it was "impossible" for other tourists to use the bathrooms so he would build new ones, DPA reported.
Previously, the temple temporarily banned Chinese tourists after Chinese tour groups left the toilets in a state of disrepair.
Tourism Etiquette Manual
Officials in Chiang Mai have taken to putting together a Tourism Etiquette Manual in Mandarin and distributing them to Chinese visitors during the Chinese New Year holidays, reports said.
The booklet asks tourists not to touch or deface artworks, not to relieve themselves in public, and to drive more responsibly.
Last year, 4.62 million Chinese visited Thailand, accounting for 18.7 per cent of all international arrivals, more than any other nationality, Bangkok Post reported.
Sources: DPA, YouTube, Bangkok Post, The Straits Times
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