Lack of toilet breaks forces Thai bus conductors to wear diapers

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If you have access to a clean toilet at your workplace, you’ll probably appreciate it a lot more after reading this. Bus conductors in Bangkok, Thailand, don’t even get toilet breaks – they wear adult diapers instead, and are forced to answer nature’s call on the job, according to Taipei Times.

This might sound gross, but it’s actually kind of sad. The story is the same in several parts of Thailand – blue collar workers aren’t even provided with basic amenities. Bus conductors have it the worst – without any work breaks to tend to their physiological needs, they have to wear adult diapers all day long. It’s no laughing matter – the diapers are actually making them ill.

One of those affected is Watcharee Viriya, a conductor who developed urinary tract infection because she spent several hours away from a restroom and started wearing diapers, which only made matters worse.

“It was uncomfortable when I moved, especially when I urinated inside,” she said. “When I arrived at the bus terminal, I had to run to get changed. I used at least two diapers a day.”

Watcharee was recently diagnosed with cancer of the uterus, for which she needs to undergo surgery. “The doctor told me that it was because of wearing dirty diapers and the substances from them going into the uterus.”

According to a survey conducted by the Thai Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation, 28 per cent of female bus conductors wear diapers during their 16-hour shifts.

“We were shocked,” said Jaded Chouwilai, director of the foundation. “We also found that many of them suffer urinary tract infections and stones in their bladders. Many of the female bus conductors also have uterus cancer.”

Thankfully, Bangkok’s bus conductors and unionists are starting to demand better working conditions. “Their working conditions are not good,” said Chutima Boonjai, secretary of the Bangkok Mass Transit Authority labour union. “They have to work long hours in the heat and when they are hungry, they cannot eat. When they want to go to the toilet, they cannot.

“The worst cases are cancers, strokes and high blood pressure because of tiring and hot working conditions. That’s why it’s now becoming extremely difficult to hire people to work on Thai buses, especially at wages as low as $10 a day,” Boonjai said.