Since 2023, Ho Chi Minh City has put into operation 5-star public toilets in the central area, serving free of charge to residents and tourists. However, after only two years of operation, the quality of this project has begun to deteriorate seriously.
Recorded on November 17 at a public toilet "5 stars" on Hai Ba Trung Street (formerly District 1) showed common damage such as: door pressing button, bridge tanks, spray pipes were not working; the entrance and exit door could not be operated; the power socket and hand-washing soap boxes were damaged; even the toilet corrugated iron panel fell out.
Ms. Nguyen Tung Linh (residing in Binh Thanh Ward) expressed her concern: "I see that the toilet is degraded, so I don't dare to use it. If I have to go to the toilet, I will go to the coffee shop to ask to go or try to go home. I think someone should look after and clean it up before I can clean it up.
Meanwhile, on Ham Nghi Street (formerly District 1), the area with 2 locations with 4 public toilets has been operating normally since 2020, but there is still a situation where people forget to splash on the smelly water.
In recent times, Ho Chi Minh City has continuously implemented upgrading and organizing public toilet management, especially in the central area. However, the problem of quantity and quality has not been completely resolved.
According to the draft project to improve public toilets in Ho Chi Minh City in the period of 2024-2025, Ho Chi Minh City currently has about 2,165 public toilets. Of which, there are only 283 toilets in public areas such as parks, sidewalks, bus stations; the remaining 1,882 toilets are located in service businesses and public offices.
The shortage and overload of public toilets are increasingly serious. Many busy streets such as Bui Vien, De Tham (formerly District 1), Vo Van Tan, Pham Ngoc Thach (formerly District 3) ... have few public toilets. Meanwhile, some available toilets on Tu Xuong and Le Quy Don streets (formerly District 3) are often closed. This makes tourists and locals have to go to coffee shops or shopping malls to "go shopping".
Many of the current toilets are old, outdated, not meeting standards and not suitable for the modern architecture of the city. Some are only cleaned periodically, have no operators, and do not collect tolls, so the quality is poor.
Investment, management, and maintenance of public toilets are facing many difficulties. For example, Ho Chi Minh City does not have enough public land, and is stuck in legal problems when building toilets on road land. It is necessary to bid to select investors according to regulations when using land and public sidewalks, and temporary sidewalk usage fees must be collected. In addition, awareness of public toilet users is not high...
Notably, in early February 2023, citing the index from QS Supplies' ranking table, Nikkei Asia newspaper published that the quality of public toilets in Ho Chi Minh City was ranked 67/69 tourist cities in the world, clearly reflecting the urgency of improving this public service.
