No bidet sprayers, unusable toilet tanks, manually flushing toilets with a bucket of water, bad odors, and filthy floors are among the most common complaints regarding the restrooms at several railway stations in Vietnam.

Stagnant water on the floor, no hand soap, and no toilet paper were the first things to jump out at a Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporter who recently visited the restroom at the Saigon Railway Station in Ho Chi Minh City.

The women’s restroom had five stalls, but only three could be used.

The fourth stall did not work and the fifth was being used for storage. 

In each stall, the tank lid and the handle to flush the toilet were both missing.

“After using the toilet, I discovered that there was no handle to flush it, so I had to use a bucket to pour water into it,” said a passenger named Van Anh. 

“What kind of toilet that lacks [a flusher], toilet paper, and hand soap?”

It is forecast that the Saigon Railway Station, located in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 3, will serve thousands of passengers every day during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday in January, raising hygiene concerns during the peak travel season. 

Following Tuoi Tre’s report on the issue, a reader named Khue Viet Truong wrote to the newspaper about his bad experiences at other railway stations’ restrooms in Vietnam.

After exiting a train from northern Lao Cai Province into the railway station in Hanoi, Truong hurried toward the men’s restroom, just to back off over a foul smell before reaching the restroom’s entrance.

The man then decided to wait until he arrived at his hotel room.

Another time, Truong was at the Nha Trang Railway Station in the namesake coastal tourist city under south-central Khanh Hoa Province.

The Nha Trang Railway Station is located in the city center and is considered as the most beautiful train station in the central Vietnamese region. 

However, Truong just could only find a small toilet that seemed to be locked and in a complete state of disrepair. 

Truong also found other passengers bewildered over the locked toilet. 

The only available toilet at the station was in the parking lot.

In his email to Tuoi Tre, Truong expressed his hope that the situation would be remedied soon.

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