泰國學校爲異裝癖者設立專用廁所

A Thai school has taken a step towards helping transvestites resolve the dilemma of which restroom to use by creating toilets specifically for them.

The Kamphaeng School in Si Sa Ket, nearly 600 km northwest of Bangkok, has over 200 transvestites among its 2,500 students and many have been asking for a separate toilet.

"When they used male toilets, they would be teased. That's why they don't want to use it. They're a little scared so they would just go to female toilets with their female friends," school director Sittisak Sumonta said.

The transvestite toilet has three cubicles and was introduced last month. The sign on the door combines both the male and female icons found on ordinary toilet doors and the Thai word "bandoh", meaning transvestite.

The school director said the students were no longer allowed to use female toilets but could still use the male toilets if they wanted to.

Thailand is relatively tolerant of homosexuality and Bangkok is a global centre for sex-change surgery.

Transvestites or transsexuals are common in Thai offices, schools and on television, although the country remains deeply conservative at heart and still has many rules discriminating against non-heterosexuals.

泰國的一所學校爲異性裝扮癖者設立了專門的廁所，幫助異裝癖者解決了“如廁難”的問題。

位於曼谷西北將近600公里的四色菊甘榜中學裏，2500名學生中有200多名異裝癖者。他們中大部分都希望能有專用的廁所。

學校主管Sittisak Sumonta 表示，“這些異裝癖的孩子使用男廁所時會被人嘲笑，所以他們不願意使用男衛生間。他們有點恐懼，所以去女廁所時通常要女性朋友陪伴。”

這種廁所分爲三小間，於上個月建成。門上的標誌既有普通的女廁所特徵又有常用的男廁所特徵，並且用泰語寫着“異裝癖者”（bandoh）。

學校主管稱，新廁所落成後，這些學生不能再去上女廁所。但如果他們願意的話，還是可以去男廁所。

泰國比較容忍同性戀，而且曼谷是世界變性手術的中心。在泰國，辦公室，學校，電視節目中都可以見到異裝癖者和變性者。不過，泰國本質上還是一個十分保守的國家，存在着許多歧視非異性戀者的法令。