Foreign tourists caught defecating outside restuarant in Phuket
Restaurant owner calls for more public bathrooms to solve issues
A Thai restaurant owner in Phuket urged the government to consider increasing the number of public bathrooms after foreign tourists defecated outside his business on two separate occasions.
The owner of Salaloy Restaurant, Pananut Asawapitakchon, shared details of the unpleasant incidents on his Facebook account yesterday, May 22. He explained that the incidents occurred twice beforehand, last week and this week, when the restaurant was closed.
Pananut stated that his restaurant normally allows visitors in urgent need of a bathroom to use the facilities inside, regardless of whether they are dining there or not.
He added that he was willing to cover the costs associated with maintaining the toilets, such as water, electricity, cleaning, toilet paper, and soap, as a way to support tourism and the local economy. He believed that offering such access would ultimately benefit his business in the long run.
However, he noted that this approach had its limits. Despite his willingness to offer bathroom access free of charge, the incidents occurred while the restaurant was closed. With no public bathrooms nearby, tourists resorted to defecating outside his premises.
Last week, a foreign tourist was seen defecating in front of the restaurant. This week, the same thing happened again, this time involving a foreign woman. Pananut shared a photo of the latter incident in his post featuring the foreign woman with used tissue papers in her hands.
He expressed concern for his staff, who had to clean up the waste, something far beyond their job description. He also wondered whether other restaurant owners in Phuket were facing similar issues.
Pananut argued that the incidents highlighted a broader problem: a world-class tourist destination like Phuket was failing to meet basic standards in catering for visitors. He called on the relevant government agencies to take the matter seriously, even if it seemed minor.
He concluded his post by acknowledging that the problem was not urgent compared to other issues, but still worthy of attention for future improvement. He wrote…
“The problem is not urgent, but I would like to leave the matter for further improvement. In the meantime, I will continue to collect urine or faeces myself.”
The issue was raised before by Thai netizens after several foreign tourists were previously caught urinating in public places. In some cases, tourists were seen urinating from tuk tuks. Aside from criticising tourists’ reckless behaviour, the public pointed out that the lack of accessible public bathrooms was a contributing factor.
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It’s a shame. Phuket makes billions of baht from tourism, and you often wonder where this money goes when the administration can’t even provide proper restrooms.
Not even on the beaches or in the most frequented areas like Phuket old town, Karon, Kata, or Patong are there any toilets or signs pointing into their direction.
We ourselves owned a restaurant in Nai Harn for many years, and people came by almost every day and asked if they could use the restroom; some didn’t even ask. Anyone who knows good spicy Thai food knows that you can sometimes have to be quick when looking for a restroom as a tourist.
It is not the job of restaurants, shopping centers, or supermarkets like Makro or Lotus to be responsible for the cleanliness of the island, and the government should not always wait until organisations like the Phuket Rotary Club making donations for building a bathroom like on NaiHarn Beach.
There’s no excuse for this behaviour, irrespective of the circumstances. Some of our fellow tourists simply have no respect. We come to Phuket and Thailand seeking a paradise that doesn’t exist in our own part of the world. I wonder how these fine examples would feel if someone defecated on their front door step. It’s the same watching too many tourists just drop their bottles and rubbish where they stand rather than finding a bin or bag. They’re probably the same ones that complain about some areas being dirty.
Have some respect people. It’s not up to Pananut to wipe your bum and deal with your excrement on the doorstep of his restaurant.
Disgusting!
i dont want stay close to you, obviously you are shitting yourself or never had to do it on the spot. Do this old lady really look to you like she want it? like it was fun for her having to do this like a dog because there are no toilets around? Its not an English or Aussi lad peeing on a street because drunk at night! and btw i never saw any tourists throwing away a plastic bottle or garbage on the street or i would have said something.
Some tourists are no better than a dog
yeah specially many from down under when they are pi55ed drunk in Patong and peeing where ever they go and stand! This old lady doesnt look to me like this want it, she just dont wanted to shat herself, may be you would have done it and after run back to your hotel… i dont!!
I don’t know why she did that, maybe she had explosive diarrhea, yet she could’ve chosen bushes, not the area in front of some establishment