An old problem to many cities around the world, public urination leaves a stench at many busy places across Ho Chi Minh City, where public toilets are scarce.

Puddles of urine soak the roads in the city’s central District 1 so badly that no one can walk by without feeling nauseous.

Informal gig workers like motorbike taxi drivers and street vendors spend a lot of time outside without access to proper sanitation facilities, forcing them to urinate in public.

The odor of urine is particularly strong in busy areas, such as bus terminals, bus stops, and crowded streets like Nguyen Huu Canh in Binh Thanh District, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai in District 1, and Vo Van Tan in District 3, where it is difficult to find a restroom.

Ngo Thi Anh, 52, a beverage street vendor at the 23-9 Park in District 1, said she often witnesses people peeing on the street.

To many pedestrians’ annoyance, like Anh, it is also common for them to come across a random person that is about to pee in public places.

They have to walk fast while covering their noses and mouths to avoid the unsightly scene.

According to Anh, using bathrooms inside shopping malls and at bus stations is not an option for motorbike taxi drivers, because to get there, they would have to park their vehicles.

They also refuse to use sidewalk public toilets for the same reason -- no one guards their motorcycles while they relieve themselves.

Anh claimed that people could actually find the nearest toilet to urinate but had just grown accustomed to the bad habit.

While Vietnamese law stipulates fines between VND150,000 (US$6.3) and VND250,000 ($10) for urinating and defecating in unauthorized places, but, like many other cities in the world, the problem persists.

Residents of New York City, for example, rely on the toilets inside Starbucks coffee shops, according to the New York Times.

Paris tried to control rampant public urination with sidewalk urinals, the U.S. National Public Radio (NPR) reported in 2018.

San Francisco painted nine walls with a repellent paint that makes pee spray back on the offender, the New York Post reported in 2015.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!