Restaurant in Japan urges Thai tourists to flush tissues down the toilet

The owner of a restaurant in Japan urged Thai tourists to flush their used tissues down the toilet when using his bathroom. The appeal surprised many Thai people as used paper towels are not allowed to be flushed down the toilet in Thailand.

A Thai woman, married to a Japanese restauranteur on Hokkaido Island, sent a message to the admin of the Hokkaido Fanclub Facebook on December 3 urging Thai tourists not to flush tissues down their toilet when visiting.

The woman said…

“Please help me spread this information about how to dispose of used tissues in Japan, especially in women’s bathrooms. My husband asked me to put a sign up after Thai tourists left tissues in our waste bins. The small bin in the bathroom is only for the disposal of sanitary pads. It is very small and it is full after ten Thais use the toilet. Our maid is worried but does not know how to inform the tourists. Please help me share this information.”

Almost every bathroom in Thailand has a sign informing users to avoid flushing used tissues down the toilet. Moreover, every bathroom is equipped with a bin for users to leave both tissues and sanitary pads.

The Hokkaido Fanclub admin reckons Thailand should change its bathroom practices and flush tissues instead of leaving them to stink out the toilet to the discomfort of others.

The admin said Thailand should develop a water system that allows the disposal of tissues like in other countries.

Many Thai netizens supported the suggestion to make the kingdom’s bathroom cleaner and smell nicer. Many added that Thai paper towels should be changed because they are thicker and harder to decompose.

Japan is the top tourist destination for Thai people. Japanese food, winter with cherry blossoms, J-pop, and anime is popular in Thailand and inspires Thai tourists to visit the country.

Japan reopened its border to visa-free tourists on October 11. Thousands of Thais travelled to Japan after the reopening, which caused a problem for Japanese tourists who wanted to travel to Thailand. Many had to cancel plans to come to the kingdom because most of the flights were booked by Thai people.