Thailand to upgrade from squat to sit-down toilets

Thailand's health ministry has introduced a new programme to replace squat toilets with the sit-down version at all public facilities, officials said Tuesday.

Deputy Public Health Minsiter Surawit Khonsomboon said the new loo policy was necessary to prepare for the country’s increasingly aged population.

The number of people over 60 years old will reach 14 per cent of the population in 2015, compared with 10 per cent in 2005, according to the United Nations Population Fund.//DPA