Transgender toilet opens at school in Thailand

Published on Wednesday 18 June 2008 22:04

A HIGH school in rural Thailand has opened a toilet for its transvestite pupils after discovering that 200 of its 2,600 students considered themselves transgender.

Kampang School in northeastern Thailand has unveiled a unisex restroom designated by a human figure split in half, part man in blue and part woman in red. Below are the words "Transvestite Toilet."

Three transgender students praised the facilities as they plucked their eyebrows and applied face powder in front of the mirror outside the stalls.

"I'm so happy about this," Vichai Sangsakul, a teenager with a pixie hairdo pulled back with a pink hair-slide, said.

"It looks bad going to female toilets. What would other people think?"

Most rural Thais are conservative in many ways, but the toilet initiative at the school in Sisaket province reflects another aspect of Thai society: its tolerance of the country's very visible transgender community.

"These students want to be able to go to the toilet in peace without fear of being watched, laughed at or groped," said Sitisak Sumontha, the school director.

Comments: We are experiencing technical difficulties which mean some visitors to scotsman.com may be unable to post a message on our comment threads. Our digital support team is working to resolve this problem. Apologies for the interruption in service.