In Thailand, it is common to encounter toilet cleaners who are female. While there are females toilet cleaners in Singapore as well, what is different in Thailand is that the cleaners here do their cleaning even when there are men around.
In Singapore, the cleaner will usually knock on the toilet door first and ask loudly if there was anyone inside. Only when the toilet was vacant would they enter and start cleaning. And even so, they would display a sign outside the toilet informing everyone that cleaning was in progress. Users who needed to go would have to find another toilet. In Thailand, the cleaner will do their cleaning – wiping the sinks, moping the floor, changing the paper towels etc even as men are walking in and out of the toilet or lining up at the urinals taking their leaks.
I remember the time when I was in the middle of a leak in a toilet in Thailand and the cleaning lady walked in with no prior warning. The other guys around me did not bat an eyelid but I was freaking out as I did not know what I should do then – should I continue or stop and finish the business in one of the stalls? As for her, she basically ignored everyone while she went about her job. She was there to do her job and after being exposed to this sort of scene everyday (I am sure there are pervs around who expose themselves intentionally as well), I suppose she had probably become desensitized to all of it as well.
But today, even after several years in Thailand, I simply cannot take a leak at a urinal when the cleaning lady is around. I can only do so in a stall. If the stalls were full, I would rather hold it in and wait or come back at a later time.
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