Having lived in a number of different countries, I can safely say that even though certain parts of Asia have developed and progressed at a tremendous rate, their plumbing systems have not. I thought that Thailand and South Korea were bad enough with their little sanitary bins BESIDE the toilet to throw your disgusting, used toilet paper in (isn’t the entire reason that toilets flush things away, to prevent all these unwanted germs AND SMELLS spreading?!)
But it turns out that Malaysia actually tops these countries with the most unhygienic toilets we’ve ever seen. Even our local Malaysian friends agree with us on this point. So here’s why we think that Malaysia has the worst toilets in the world…
A toilet in a nearby kampung( village). No bum gun. Just a shared bucket.
This is the bathroom Vaughan had to use at a students home for a year.
1. You’ll always leave the toilet with wet feet.
There really is no reason in God’s green earth why your feet should get wet in a public toilet stall, but in Malaysia this is almost unavoidable. I have never entered a toilet stall that doesn’t look like it’s been showered in. What I affectionately dubbed the ‘bum gun’ is the water hose responsible for this. It is custom in many countries to use this hose instead of toilet paper to clean your unmentionable bits. Which is fine, but that doesn’t mean I want to walk or dip my toes into the water you’ve just cleaned yourself with. Gross.
A typical shopping mall toilet.
McDonalds. The water is coming from the toilet next door!
Water in the general hand washing area.
2. Shoe marks on the toilet bowl.
For every 5 squatter toilets in a shopping mall bathroom, there is 1 “sit-down” toilet bowl. Once you see the shoe scuffs and marks left behind on the toilet seat, you will go running to find a squatter. A friend of mine from the Middle East explained that he grew up only ever seeing squatter style loo’s so once he saw a western toilet bowl as a child, he continued to squat up onto it ( an incredible feat I imagine).
But you must be joking if you think I’ll sit on the same spot where you’ve just put your dirty shoes. And worst yet, when squatting that it’s common make certain…erm…“errors in judgement” and those errors usually land up on the back of the toilet seat *runs screaming for the hills*.
The result. A toilet on a Malaysian Train. – Seth Mazow
Thankfully they are educating the people about the dangers.
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3. The Smell.
There is no photo in the world that can accurately convey the smell of Malaysian bathrooms (which we have endured here nearly everyday) and living in rural Malaysia only makes matters worse, but not even top end malls in the big cities are free of these disturbing smells. Sure, it’s a toilet so we can assume it should smell bad. But there are limits!
In our home of Cape Town, South Africa most toilets have all unwanted scents masked by fragrant air fresheners or germ-killing cleaning detergents, here that doesn’t seem to be the case. The fact that so much wee-enhanced water stagnates on the floor, (and some squatters are literally just long-drops) means that the smell just wafts around, doesn’t help matters.
Nor does the fact that everyone seems to smoke while in the loo too (again, extremely impressive!) The smoke hangs thick in air and the scent sort of sticks to you. Vaughan says it smells like prison toilets. I really would prefer a hole in the ground beneath a tree.
Afraid to lift the lid?
4. You may have to pay.
It’s always hilarious to me that the worst public toilets require you to pay an entrance fee. It’s customary not to use toilet paper here in Malaysia and most toilets frequently run out of the little toilet paper that there is. So some people have spotted this entrepreneurial opportunity and charge patrons for not only tissues (which is fine with us) but also for bathroom upkeep (which would be fine if they actually cleaned the bathrooms!)
I came to close to tears of joy when I first entered a toilet in Vietnam (after living in Malaysia for a year) which had clean, dry floors, toilet paper and an air freshener – who knew these things could provide such unadulterated joy!?
Popular KL shopping mall – Publika. Yes someone decided to trim their dangly bits! They were all over the urinal, and the floor. Ewwwww…
5. You have to have the equilibrium of a Kung Fu Master.
Even before I was pregnant visiting a squatter here was a precarious business. If it’s not the wet floors and slippery porcelain foot holds that are trying to kill you, it’s my clothes which I’m trying to save from being drenched in said water!
Usually I’m clutching my bag under one armpit, holding my tissues in my one hand and hiking up my pants in another whilst perching astride the hole-of-death on my tip-toes.
Vaughan, who is bigger than me and has less balance, admits that to avoid getting his clothes soaked he has to get almost completely naked and then if there’s no hook on the door, he has to hold everything was balancing!
No place to hang or put anything. This is for the experts.
This one always makes me laugh. Two guys simply cannot fit in there.
The “bum gun.” How would you feel about sharing this with others?
When there’s no “bum gun” you’ll have to make do with the bucket.
The water goes down and the smell comes up. Lovely.
Yes, we will miss many things about Malaysia (like these things) but the toilets are not one of them! South Africa, we miss your toilets!
Have you experienced shocking toilets like this here or anywhere else in the world?
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Update: Many Malaysians reading this article have taken offence to our thoughts on public toilets in their country. But may we just point out two things before you lose your temper:
1) when we say “worst in the world” it is an exaggeration, we mean “worst that we have ever seen” and,
2) we are not the first to raise this issue a simply google search for “malaysian toilets“ will reveal that even The Star has written about it.
Well the title is kind of misleading since this only applies for public toilets in malaysia, hey don’t get me wrong i don’t like public toilets here too, but its better then not having public toilets like some countries
Thanks for reading. Yes this article is about public toilets, but also toilets in places where we have had to work. And out of all the countries I’ved lived in in Asia and Africa, these are by far the worst.
This truly makes me feel nauseous, mainly because I’ve seen them myself and would rather not remember the memory. God bless the Pavillions mall and their designer toilets, a true KL savior!
hehe, yes some malls are a saving grace. Truly a break from the scary things we have had to endure.
Okay, I’ve seen worse. Lol. Ever used a “Mayan Toilet”? I some some pretty gross/funny stories about that involving pigs and roaches. Maybe I’ll blog about it sometime. Haha.
Wow, thanks for the headsup regarding Mayan toilets. I feel if we had just visited here we would’ve dealt with it. But living in a country and having to use these toilets regularly is just too much 😉
Being based here in Malaysia, we couldn’t really stress thiss enough. Our toilets are really bad, it is what is. HAHA
We had no idea you were based there guys! Glad you saw the humorous side 🙂
We started operations just last August here in KL. And especially if you compare our toilets to Japan’s. HUGE DIFFERENCE!
Great post nonetheless! 5 stars! 🙂
I visited Malaysia last month and was also put off by the public toilets, although there were a couple of ones I used that were okay. The public toilets also weren’t great when I visited Vietnam (especially the ones on the trains), but that was 10 years ago, so I think they’ve improved since then. But the award for worst toilets I’ve come across has to go to the ones on Kilimanjaro (luckily our hiking group usually had our own to use), but when it’s 4000m plus metres high and a fair hike in, it’s understandable!
You went up Kili! Amazing! Thanks for sharing with us. We cannot wait to head up one day! Safe travels and thanks again 🙂
Couldn’t agree more. As a Malaysian, these are also the reasons why we MALAYSIAN will try our best to avoid using any public toilet. Some people, they just can’t keep it clean.
Haha, we must be partly Malaysian too then because we also tried hard to avoid the public toilets! But seriously, most of these pics were taken in small towns and not KL, which is much more hygienic I think 🙂
One of the reasons that the toilet is always wet , it’s because , Muslim in Malaysia , they need to wash/clean up themselves before prayers, some of them just use the toilet.
Now days most of the surau have it own wash erea. No need to make such stetment it hurts. Just for your info every muslim need to wash(wudhu) before pray not only in malaysia.
My apologize to you. I didn’t mean anything.
don’t think that you are wrong. After all, not everyone is like what he said.
Not everyone is good as ‘Why’ said.
fyi, we (muslims) don’t do it in the toilet. we have our own wash/clean up space in the surau/mosque.
I apologize if I said something that offended, I didn’t mean anything, I just said it based on my observation around. Sorry for that.
Kar sheng..you are not wrong and nothing sensitive was said..everybody does it…
Sorry I can’t agree on this one. I guess whoever wrote this haven’t travel to China and Nepal. Malaysia toilet is bad but is considered 5 stars compare to China and you might appreciate the Malaysia toilets.
Imagine squatting down over a drain, showing your bum to the world (no door), and facing a basketful of toilet paper stained with someone else’s shit, plus blood if you a girl. As the “drain” flushes, you will see someone else’s poo from “upstream”.
Oh just in case you can’t find the toilet, just follow your nose. You can smell it from at least 500m away, I bet. Plus it’s not always free.
my gf’s experience in China was worse. theres this kind of small room toilet in china, where the ladies (toilet can fit a dozen people at one time) will squat facing each other, doing your business, whether u wanna do number 1, number 2, or bleed. yeah. No farks given. not to mention the poker face.
Dude what kind of malaysian are u? Calling the writer by the N word and saying people don’t give a crap, makes u the even worst than the dirtiest toilet ever. Sampah masyarakat. Troll konon..lol pls blah buang la bodo. U make us msian shame. Otak hang mcm tandas awam
That sounds like something from a horror movie! Thanks for sharing with all of us! 🙂
That is a more “rural” experience in China. I think the author is talking about the fact that this is the norm in even the most up-market places. I have been to both China and Nepal and I agree it’s “eye opening” but I have never consistently been gagged upon entering a “clean” attendant supervised toilet like I have in 15 years of living in Malaysia.
Don’t compare with the worst..compare with the best since Malaysia wishes to be a developed nation in 2020..toilets are definitely bad and dirty in Malaysia especially public places including in many mosques, and also petrol stations with well known brands…they can afford to sponsor F1 but can’t keep their toilets clean..
Exactly.
That’s not all. Try visiting the toilets of government clinics and hospital wards in Melaka. They are even worse, considering they are the advocators of puclic health.
Agreed. They can sponsor F1. But they cant keep their toilet clean….
totally irrelevant. haha that means if we go to any country that has somebody sponsoring F1 and the toilet is not clean, hence they’re bad? haha
I’m a Malaysian, our public toilets are indeed very dirty but to be honest I’ve seen worse toilets in China. One I went to had no cubicle, only dividers. U walk pass others doing their business, into your little spot with a drain that led from the first divider to the last, u put one foot over the drains and squat, doing your business into the drain below. The flush is on one end, flushes everybody’s dump to the other end of the drain. It was at a tourist spot, a museum if I remember correctly.
Wow! That’s terrible! Thanks for sharing Jocelyn! China seems to definitely be everyone’s worst! 🙂
Woah…. Can’t even imagine about that!
Do you remember which city was this at?
As a Malaysian I am saddened to see our toilets have disappointed you. But with all due respect, I believe that notion of “Worst In The World” is exaggerated. While we have many “bad” toilets (which lots of improvements are needed), it does not mean we are the “worst”, which I believe we might find similar toilets like this within your country and the rest of the world too, based on the standards you have set to judge a toilet.
#195 is not that much better than #196. In fact, so what if you get Malaysia placed at #150? The point is that the toilets in Malaysia are a lot worse than the other parts of Malaysia. If you look at the infrastructure as a whole, and you used it to extrapolate the conditions of the toilets, you would not have imagined it as bad as it is.
Yes, we were just exaggerating. We haven’t been to all the countries in the world and probably never will so we aren’t experts at all! But they were some of the worst toilets we have ever come across. But bad toilets or not, we still LOVE Malaysia! 🙂
Well, i believe they were just exaggerating ,you know. No need to be sad on the “worst” part. Everyone knows its not true. Chill man.
Lauren you haven’t travel enough to make comparison. Travel to South America, India and Bangladesh then you would know.. When I was in Cuba ..No toilet seats, no water (flushed by own pee), sometime no doors. The worst part they charge you 1 CuC (about 1 Euro) as foreigner at the door. Oh ya you can’t find female sanitary pads anywhere.
Absolutely, we haven’t been everywhere but my wife has been to MANY countries so we do have some experience! Of course we were just exaggerating. We aren’t experts at all! But they were some of the worst toilets we have ever come across. But bad toilets or not, we still LOVE Malaysia!
Do you mean that there was no water to flush for the sitting toilets too?
yep.. nasty
Do you see this often? And do women go to these toilets, aren’t they disturbed from splashback?
Hello dear writer, it seems that u have made yourself a world expert on toilets without even doing a simple 5 minute googling to spend some time on Wikipedia which would tell u that China and India have far worse toilets. And that’s, by REAL experts.
I woukd agree with u that Malaysia has a long way to go in this matter, simply because authorities do have their brains in their backsides, but most places u go to today have quite adequate level of hygiene. So, the picture u put across is completely one-sided, as if to blemish even further than what Malaysia deserves.
You’ve not seen clean toilets at hotels and restaurants and cafe’s n shopping malls and people’s homes????
Pathetic level of reporting.
Hey Sunil, no we are definitely not experts! This was just a little bit of exaggeration and a little bit of fun. If you read our other posts and follow my Instagram you will come to see that we actually love Malaysia! (Just not the kampung toilets! ) Hehe.
For me, China toilet is the worst but i havent travel enough to label it as the worst toilet in the world.
Clearly someone that is delusional or living in the past. China first tier cities are full of good looking and modern toilets.
If we’re talking about first tier cities, then even some mid-range restaurants in Malaysia have better toilets than China’s so-called first tier cities as these restaurants have those special Japanese toilets with built-in bidets, sound, electric heating, etc.
Of all the countries I’ve been to, China is the only one where the capital (Beijing) has to inform its own citizens to observe politeness and hygiene, so you mean to tell me that the capital of China is not its first tier city?
No point arguing on the state of public toilets, we have the poorer ones in every corner of the earth. Nevertheless, how about talking about toilets in airports? Has anyone seen or described the sad state of affairs of the toilets in KLIA2? This is a gateway into the country, mind you, the first pit stop someone makes upon arrival! Sad!!
The content of this article may be true.. But please remove the word ‘worst’.. You haven’t travel enough to label this. You will know if you go to egypt and china.
Of course we were just exaggerating. We aren’t experts at all! But they were some of the worst toilets we have ever come across. But bad toilets or not, we still LOVE Malaysia!
Really? then what is this: https://thetravelmanuel.com/10-reasons-why-you-should-never-visit-malaysia/
READ THE ARTICLE BEFORE YOU COMMENT.
Vaughan, that photo you had taken regarding train toilet is a fine example. I will forward this photo to their boss. Somebody had to kick their ass. Thanks bro. Anyway I do agree with you regarding this toilets that are in a small town in Malaysia. As a Malaysian it is an eye opener for everybody
Well, the politics are really BAD xD whenever i see any police on the streets, i call them dogs cuz they work for our stupid prime minister… But there are still things that i love abt malaysia that is the fun places to go to thats all 😛
Stupid writer cant speak or have not mastered the English language properly yet. Go ask your kindergarten teacher, what is the meaning of “Worst” – especially when you’re comparing the toilet against the whole world.
But then again, post was written by a nigger, so nobody gives a crap about your opinion either lol
Dude what kind of malaysian are u? Calling the writer by the N word and saying people don’t give a crap, makes u the even worst than the dirtiest toilet ever. Sampah masyarakat. Troll konon..lol pls blah buang la bodo. U make us msian shame. Otak hang mcm tandas awam la hadoi
Thanks buddy. Really appreciate you standing up for us like that. Of course he must have missed how much we love Malaysia (as we’ve written many time elsewhere in our blog,) but some people struggle to “get it.” Thanks again!
It’s in the incessant need to wash their f*cking a*se rather than use toilet paper which brings about this pain of wet floors thanks but no thanks to some religious guidelines of crapping.
And the numbnuts also think they’re doing the world a favour by hosing the whole cube down as they feel it takes the smell away.
Guess they’ve been reading the wrong book fot a millennia & a half…
lol .. ur world is only limited to Thailand , Sourth Korea & Malaysia ? if that is the case , ur title is so valid. Try add rural area of China to your world.
Add North and South America & Europe and Australia to that list please.
It’s a shame that you have to endure this, my blogging friend. I hope you had a good experience and memories in Malaysia apart from the toilets. 🙂 cheers.
Haha! At the end of the day I don’t what the toilets are like, Malaysia is such a beautiful country that we have 99% great memories from our two years there 🙂 Thanks for leaving a comment TakaTaka! Safe travels bud!
China is worse. There is shit all over the toilet bowls.
Gross! Thankfully we’ve never encountered that! Thanks for letting us know 🙂
Who cares if China or some other countries are worse, nobody is going to help you keep your toilets clean but YOU! Be responsible users, think of the next person using the toilet.
I receive tourists from major countries and they (for the past 28 years) dont deem Malaysia’s toilets as the worst in the world. I have to agree that our toilets are not very welcoming, sometimes ladies may choose to hold their bladder till we get to some cleaner toilets. But surely the writer is biased for some reason only she knows. From my experience dealing with travel writers, journalists, some (I said some) write about our country with vengence. Professional writers always know how to get the message across in a subtle (unsuspecting) manner.
Hey Mike, we were just exaggerating. We haven’t been to all the countries in the world and probably never will so we aren’t experts at all! But they were some of the worst toilets we have ever come across. But bad toilets or not, we still LOVE Malaysia!
CHILL man
I thought rural China and rural India was bad…. until I went to rural Mongolia. There I experienced a 6 foot pit with two planks across it to balance on. Malaysia is really not so bad compared to those that…!!
Having been to China, Indonesia and Philippine, I should agree with you. Malaysia is definitely not the worst.
Even in ME you could find some of the worse toilets.
some people poorly manage the water flow when washing 😛
but about squatting… i think there’s research nowadays that shows that its the best way to poop! 🙂
Yep, you’re right about squatting – I also heard it’s the healthiest way 🙂
malaysian toilet is very bad. but its not the worst though.. other country a lot worst based on my experience and friends and family.
Welcome to Asia!!! Things do happen differently here and the best learning you get out of it—life works! It’s funny how western travelers can’t digest the fact that other cultures do things differently! Ever imagine an Asian writing a blog on the weird habit of westerners wiping ones poop with toilet paper with no guarantee of a clean bum, instead of using water! About westerners sitting on pots, sharing the seat with others from earlier who sat there to poop and spending hours reading newspapers!
As a traveler, the first rule of thumb is to do it like the locals do! The locals still go do their business in the toilets and everywhere else, so why can’t u?! How are you enriching urself as a person if you can’t learn a few things?!
And just to add a note to your “exaggeration”! The “bum gun” came much later to Asia because of convenience, the buckets were traditionally used, and nope u don’t share them by dipping your soiled cracks into it! You use that little dongle in it to throw in the water, get your hands dirty, and then wash the hands with soap!!! Hence you’d also have seen extremely wet and soap laden wash basins!! But again ur “exaggerating” and not expert travelers, yes!?!
Hey Adnan. We love Asia, but we’re just highlighting how the toilets are different. Don’t take it personally. We wouldn’t have lived in Malaysia for two years and South East Asia for five years if we weren’t able to learn from (and enjoy) the culture.
Your remark unacceptable…not sure what your attention by saying such words..condems where your country you live??? made you more famous???
Before you publish this biased article, can you upload a copy of your passport just the part that showed you have travelled to all 193 countries in the world, and some proof that you have travelled to each subregion/district of each country that you (presumably) have visited?
We all know, the part where she wrote “worst” is just an exaggeration, aight? Chill man, CHILL
me think Thailand has improved trememdously in the big cities…over Malaysia. Visit their latest Malls and I bet you would not come out …look at their state of art TOILET SYSTEM BOWL…with water jet flushing and air cool blowing …hardly use any toilet rolls..its clean too…no water is required…just sit and enjoy your work…Malaysian toilets are wet always because of religious reasons …ask the muslims on their rituals…and you know why its wet…
Years ago I went traveling around the Middle East where you can’t put tissues down the loo due to the sewage system still not done properly but even considering that and one awful awful place I went too that was like cows had come in and pooed everywhere, I still consider Malaysian toilets awful even in KL malls & only go if I HAVE too. It’s really sad actually and it all comes down to the education of it all. The pictures you put up are awful but I have to say that the ladies loo really is an horrific sight and i really don’t understand why one gets so lazy to clean up after themselves during their menstural cycle. Thanks for the write up. Had a sad giggle whilst reading it
That’s hilarious! Except the menstrual cycle part, that is just plain horrific. Thanks for sharing Jem 🙂
Exactly, it boils down to the un-civilized individuals who are using these toilets
You have not experienced disgusting until you’ve seen toilets in Saudi Arabia or Kuwait that are outside of malls. In the malls, beautiful. Outside? Oh. My. Gosh. No paper, water everywhere soaking your clothes or no water at all, used sanitary napkins stuck to the floor and/or walks, bugs crawling up the walls and hanging from the ceiling, and women with no aim (all squatters) who urinate and defacate all over the floor. I walked into the loo during my son’s rugby match and there were literally two piles of shit just sitting on the floor. No even in the stall, just on the floor in the changeroom. The women lifted their abayas and dropped a load in the floor. And the smell! My eyes watered just walking in to some of these toilets. N.A.S.T.Y.
As a Malaysian I find this article quite
offensive..especially since it is titled ‘worst’ toilets..Many toilets (in shopping complexes, rest stops) are dry, supplied with tissue and have air fresherners. I have lived in Malaysia all my life and I have never come across toilets in such bad condition as in most of your pictures. You see, to someone who has never visited Malaysia, this is the level of hygiene you portray to them but it is actually very far from the truth. We may have many bad toilets but so does every country. Ps: we also have many very very clean toilets ???
but i think, to be truth, Malaysia do have way way many toilets like these in parts of the countries. excluding the shopping malls in the urban areas, i think places like the beach or malls in a small state, they do have this kind (smelly, watery everywhere,lots of daki on the bowl) of toilet.
I really don’t thinks so…nevertheless would we really want tourists to think that these kind of toilets are the only ones available ? The toilets in the pictures make up a very small fraction of regular toilets.
I stayed in Malaysia for 7.5 years and observed that things improved.
In our school (CS department in a top public university), the plastic pipe was on the floor for 5 years (sometimes floating in dirty waters) until one of the foreign students pushed the school and to use hooks where the pipe could stand (the invention finally arrived in our high tech school)!
One more thing, most Chinese do not consider Urine as dirty or unclean, so do not wonder why they cover everywhere with Urine… (I even saw a guy who would urinate in the dormitory shower everyday instead of going to the toilet next to the shower) .
But within the last year of my stay, I could find clean toilets in the cleaner shopping malls.
Take the feedback and try to find ways to improve. But what i see here is people keep on being defensive by arguing we r not the worst. These are all true facts. Keep on comparing wt something worst wont make us better….
i agree with you. Accepting it would be better, trying to improvise it would be much more better.
If you said Malaysian toilet is the worst toilet in the world that’s means you not travel enough around the world. I have experience travel in India and Bangladesh and their toilet more worst than Malaysia. I as Malysian think our toilet is not properly design to suit our culture. That why you see foot mark at toilet bowl because some of Malaysia prefer squat rather than seat when using toilet and about leave the foot print with water because most Malaysian especially Muslim will wash after pee rather than not wash it.
well, i think the editors need not travel much to see the the disadvantage of our country. And we all agree that the “worst” part was actually exaggerated by the writer, she didn’t really mean that literally, you know. Chill man
Im Malaysian, studying overseas, proud to be a Malaysian and will definitely return to build my nation. What I do not like is when people stay in denial. Obviously we have a long way to go in terms of public toilet cleanliness and admitting the problem exists is a first step you just have to take. How are we supposed to expect politicians to be good if down below we still dont have a first world mentality. Im no angel myself, but when something is wrong, I dont defend it. If you need to argue that elsewhere in the world, there are worse examples that means you accept mediocrity and probably will not improve.
If you go ‘downstream’ a little you will find that the sewerage system itself is badly managed. We have manholes overflowing because of lackadaisical attitude of our government servants.
Read my blog at : http://www.vemmaexperience.com/2016/01/reason-for-manhole-overflow-in-kolombong.html
http://www.vemmaexperience.com
Lol, I have been living in Malaysia half of my life, East Malaysia and West and I have traveled extensively throughout Asia and SE Asia over the past 25 years. Hands DOWN Malaysia has the worst toilets. Yes, Nepal or India would probably have worse to find in select spots, but I was in KLCC and came out of the stall to watch the bathroom attendant swish her mop in the squat toilet and then immediately proceed to swish that same mop around all of the 6 sinks to “clean” them. My 12 year old who spent her formative years in Malaysia once said to me while visiting Canada…. It’s so nice not to have to hold my breath in the bathrooms here. They are the filthiest, the smelliest, the grossest ever. This article is dead bang on.
I am Malaysian myself but unfortunately I agree with you.
I’ve only been to better toilet countries so I definitely can’t imagine how bad the others would be. But why compare ours with the worse? Take the better ones as examples and improve ourselves.
Toilet etiquette comes from home. People living in traditional kampung house mostly use squatting toilet and they are taught to clean it after they go, hence the wet floor. They tend to stick to that habit even using sitting toilet.
When I go somewhere with clean toilet in Malaysia, I always remember to say thanks to the cleaners!
I’m really sorry you have to experience this nightmare of mine.
I would normally avoid public toilets myself, unless it’s too urgent. Been studying in the uk for sometime, first when I came here I was thinking why is there no squat toilet and no bum gun. But it turns out to be very good because at least the public toilets here won’t be wet all the time (which directly make the toilets dirtier). I think both squat toilet and bum gun are the causes as to why Malaysian public toilets are so dirty. However, I’m sure there are much dirtier toilets in other countries. I’m not offended regarding this blog post because the facts are there, but exaggerating title to attract more visitors to your blog? If you’re a true blog writer, you know this is click baiting. After all, you have not experienced all the public toilets in the world.
Has anyone seen a good solution to this wet toilet thing (if the bum gun is a must)? Any floor materials, irrigation system or dryers can keep or dry the floors quickly? This is obviously a business opportunity!
To my opinion it is not the matter of the worst or otherwise. Point is it is dirty. (Public toilet) Many malaysian still do not know how to use the sitting WC and bidet properly. A lot of Malaysian would be squatting on the WC instead of sitting. Hence the shoe marks on the seat. Bidet to wash while sitting is no big problem if you must. The most just a squirt of water that escape from the hosed bidet. Manners need to be thought right from the beginning when they are in school.
Honestly this article is so over the top. Many people in Malaysia would argue that westerners are dirty by using only paper to clean and not using water to properly clean yourself. If there is no hose, next to the bucket, there is usually a tap where you can get fresh, clean water. Tada! What an incredibly narrow minded article.
Hey Lia, it wasnt meant to be a debate on paper vs water. Just the general state of the toilets. If you think the majority of Malaysian toilets are in a good sanitary state then good for you.
instead of taking offence, learn the hygiene and teach ur own malasian people. its disgusting and filthy. im not surprised at all… backward dirty islamic toilets. shame shame shame and pls take offense and learn from it !
Yeah, my thoughts exactly about the toilet. It was a culture shock actually when I first got there and most of the toilets are like that… not only in the small towns that I’ve been to but also in KL and KLIA, even the large fuel stations and the rest stops are like that. Out of 5 cubicles, you are left with one choice and you’ll be lucky enough if that too isn’t soaking. Lol.
Its the mentality of the people actually. What happens when you move people from villages with no proper toilets into facilities with proper ones. The lack of knowledge of using such facilities coupled with bad habits brought from using less “advanced” toilets.
In one of my previous jobs which involved dealing with migrant workers who came from a less developed country to work here in Malaysia – when I visited them at their hostel, they were cleaning fish in the bathroom sink and there was a burn mark on the living room floor – where they had started a fire to cook their meals. True Story.
As a Malaysian myself, after reading this acticle..yes this is actually very true about my country’s toilet…it’s all facts..the ‘best ‘ toilets you can get in the world..I would just say the people think that toilet isn’t as important as it is to other basic needs..just typical Malaysian thinking.
Malaysia still have squatting toilets. It’s just mind boggling.
As a Malaysian I totally agree with this! Although, I have to say the state of some public toilets in some shopping malls, and the R&R stops along the highway especially, have improved tremendously.
However, I don’t think the problem is the bum gun per se. Other countries like Thailand and Cambodia also often have bum guns in their toilets, yet for some reason manage to keep them spotlessly clean and dry. At least in the toilets that I went to! I think the real reason is mentality/attitude: that of the toilet users, but also those responsible for maintaining the toilets. I notice that the bum guns in Malaysia are always in poor condition, dripping water, missing parts, lying on the floor in a dirty puddle etc. In comparison, I never saw bum guns in those kind of conditions when I went to toilets in Thailand.
I also suspect it may have to do with contractors using cheap shoddy fixtures when building the bathrooms in the first place, but that’s a whole other issue…
Exactly, that’s what I pointed out ,too. The attitude!
Been there, pay toilets and 25 cents for one single square of toilet paper! Third world indeed.
In Penang toilet waste was going into the ocean – don’t swim.
if when ever possible use hotel toilets
Fully agree with you. It’s always an ‘unpleasant surprise’ to use a public toilet in Malaysia. The filthiest ever! The worst part is when the ‘bum gun’ is fallen in the commode & it’s hook is always broken or missing! This scenario is so ubiquitous that if a ‘bum gun’ is not in the commode, I really get shocked!
They looked disgusting, but if you say they’re the worst in the world you’ve clearly never been to Nepal :p
Agreed. And for some reason, KLCC, a so called high class shopping malls…the toilets have no bum gun or even bucket. You make do with a little pea shooter water hose inside the toilet bowl itself. Good luck when the water flow is low.
The truth hurts, for some.
this is true tbh
as a malaysian, im ashamed
yeah, our toilet is shit.. literally.. poop on the top, most people here dont know how to flush.
Yes . I’m a Malaysian and I’ve posted about this after visiting other third world country like Vietnam and Cambodia. I said “at least their toilets are clean”… and my friend on fb got offended and said I complain too much. Dirty toilets and smelly drains are what most foreigners leave with!
Advice: Go 5-star hotels and use theirs. Hohoho~
That sanitary bin as the name implies is for your sanitary pad you ignorant twat! Its thanks to dumb asses like u who think the bin is for shit covered TP that the bin has been misused!
That sanitary bin as the name implies is for your sanitary pad you ignorant twat! Its thanks to dumb asses like u who think the bin is for shit covered TP that the bin has been misused!!!
Their brain automatically shuts when they enter the toilet….squatting when you suppose to sit, clogging the toilet bowl with tisues and pads and the worst of it not flushing after doing whatever need to be done….this happens everwhere in Malaysia even office toilets…..its so frustrating ppl don’t have the basic hygine habit. Wonder whether these ppl practise the same at home!!!
welcome to India some day you will feel hard to compare.
Ha.. I had to Number 2 One time and There was no toilet paper, so I squatted there for a long time before finally picking up the hose. Then I couldn’t figure out how to dry my underside… so I waited there longer and finally pulled up my pants.. haha
And there are 2 other worst things about Malaysia. Malaysia is the only countries where plenty of creepy females stare at you and approach you. Ever seen that in other countries? No. In other parts of the world only men are creepy , not women. I am sure the ugly women know who they are , stop hitting on me, go rub oil on your body and suck your father’s dick instead.
I think someone should write another article on the abundance of ugly girls in Malaysia
“…Update: Many Malaysians reading this article have taken offence…”
Im Malaysian too, and yall who complain are in denial. If you cant admit the problem, then the problem will probably never get solved. Admit it, and find a way to change
It’s true, the public toilets in Malaysia are horrible. If there is toilet paper you can bet it is used mainly to dry hands after wiping themselves ‘clean’ with their left hand. My wife & I rate toilets using letter grades. E&O hotel got A+. TESCO got a F. Ministry of Foreign Affairs in KL got a B+. Coming out of a toilet at for instance a night market, in rubber flippers with you feet wet with filthy water from other people’s bowel movements is likely to leave a lasting impression: disgusting. I live in Penang and have seen plenty of Nightmare Tandas here and few decent toilets. I’ve learned the location of most of the decent crappers in Penang.
We may not have the cleanest toilets in the world, but we definitely don’t hold the record for having the worst toilets in the world – your notes at the end of the article do not seem to have address the title of your article.
By the way, you may want to pay a visit to China soon – I am sure your dirty toilet experience would be amplified.
Malaysians do have a lot to improve when it comes to toilet etiquette but again, they are definitely not the worst lot.
To people who diagree with the above article, just try living in a hostel for a week. Most hostels do not have cleaners and obviously cleaners only clean for money. So there’s not really much difference after cleaning. Plus at least 20 people are going to use the same toilets everyday. Think about it.
Malaysian here. Couldn’t agree more. I avoid public toilet like a plague. Even high class place like Suria KLCC have the same quality toilets. Now there is a premium toilet where you need to pay Rm 2 to enter. There need to be a cleaner on cleaning duty all the time, to mop the floor every time we wet the floor.
Differences in the level of education, culture, and hygiene for every Malaysian are apparent. At home we use bidet (bum gun) where we can control the water (on and off). And toilet paper to wipe dry our bum. After using the sink, we flick excess water in the sink instead of the floor. We keep on telling this to our children every day until it became a habit. But not everybody do the same.
I live in Indonesia and it’s the same here – disgusting public toilets. I’m going to talk about the elephant in the room and point out that it’s because both Malaysia and Indonesia are Muslim countries. People go into these stalls to wash up before prayer. I can’t wrap my head around the spread of germs and pathogens this would cause. I mean just thinking about being barefoot in there, much less using the ubiquitous hose to wash your face and hands, ugh. No offense Indos and Malays, but after I shake any of your hands I discreetly wash it afterwards. I mean come on. You guys rarely even have soap in public bathrooms.
I’m not offended at all by your review. I’m Malaysian (yes, I also grew up in Australia), and I have to say that most public toilets here a f*cking horrible – even in good malls. Locals, tourists and whoever seem to leave the toilets here in such shitty (literal) conditions that I tend to just hold it in until I can get to a hotel or get home.
I noticed that this post is from over 2 years ago and trust me, it hasn’t changed. I’m glad that I’m a guy and can at least pee while holding my breath at the urinals.
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I never saw this is Malaysia . If you are so bothered by it , don’t got to Vietnam . You are lucky to have a door and nobody watching .
wow!!
Im in Malaysia now. Yes the toilets are terrible. If a Malaysian gets offended it’s because you told the truth and they don’t like it. Although I can say some if these pictures are the worst toilets ever with broken seats and stuff such as that. Maybe more country places. Butt I’m in Kuala Lumpur and there’s water all over the floors and bad smells worse than others public toilets and only 1 toilet paper dispenser up front by the sinks which is often empty
Thank you, Lauren. I agree. Most of the post Ive found extoll the hygienics of bum hoses. But you are using a hose someone else just washed their’s with. Ew! Not to mention how bacteria grows much faster in wet environments, which, in a word, is just about every toilet in Malaysia, pu lic or otherwise. The squatting ones are the worst. They had these in the hospital where my daughter gave birth.