Thailand Infuriated Over Buddha Toilets

The ‘designer’ porta potties are part of a series of portable toilets, created to ‘beautify’ cities. But for Thai people, having the image of their supreme being openly displayed on toilets is sacrilegious.

Porta potties depicting image of Buddah infuriate Thai communities. Photo Credit: TLG

The upheaval began when one Thai individual spotted a photo of the Buddha image covered porta potty on Facebook. Before long, the Dutch Embassy located in Bangkok, Thailand, began receiving phone calls and emails from disgruntled Thai community leaders, demanding the toilets be removed.

The Dutch Embassy traced the company that owns and places the toilets in the Netherlands and Belgium and instructed them to remove the porta potties.

The company released an official statement to all Thai people and other Buddhist communities saying they did not intend to offend anyone and weren’t aware that depicting the image of Buddha on a toilet was insulting.

The company has since removed the five porta potties displaying the image of Buddha from public locations and has destroyed the toilets to avoid a similar mistake from reoccurring.

The Dutch company that owns and rents out the porta potties said that the Buddha image was part of a series of public toilets intended to beautify cities. Other designer porta potties the company rents out are decorated with flowers and clouds.

The Thai community has accepted the company’s apologies and phone calls made to the company by angered Buddhist individuals have almost completely stopped.