Ladies or Gents? Thai school has transvestite toilets

Visitors look at toilet bowls catered to different ages at the World Toilet Expo and Forum 2006 in Bangkok November 16, 2006.

　　A Thai school has taken a step towards helping transvestites resolve the dilemma of which restroom to use by creating toilets specifically for them.

　　The Kamphaeng School in Si Sa Ket, nearly 600 km northwest of Bangkok, has over 200 transvestites among its 2,500 students and many have been asking for a separate toilet.

　　"When they used male toilets, they would be teased. That's why they don't want to use it. They're a little scared so they would just go to female toilets with their female friends," school director Sittisak Sumonta said.

　　The transvestite toilet has three cubicles and was introduced last month. The sign on the door combines both the male and female icons found on ordinary toilet doors and the Thai word "bandoh", meaning transvestite.

　　The school director said the students were no longer allowed to use female toilets but could still use the male toilets if they wanted to.

　　Thailand is relatively tolerant of homosexuality and Bangkok is a global centre for sex-change surgery.

　　Transvestites or transsexuals are common in Thai offices, schools and on television, although the country remains deeply conservative at heart and still has many rules discriminating against non-heterosexuals.

　　(Agencies)

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