Cambodia builds $40,000 toilet for Thai princess’ visit
Royalty don’t use cheap stuff. That’s why Cambodia has spent at least $40,000 building an air-conditioned luxury toilet in anticipation of a Thai princess’ visit.
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn is expected to spend “the relaxing first leg of her three-day visit to the country at the protected Lake Yeak Loam in Ratanakkiri province, The Independent reports.
The toilet, which took 19 days to complete, is an 8-metre square building with silver railings up its white-washed steps and an all-white tiled roof.
And only the princess would be allowed to use it during her one-night visit to the lake.
The toilet would be demolished immediately after her visit.
Incidentally, Ratanakkiri province is amongst the poorest in the country.
While officials have defended the rationale behind such huge spending, some commentators have lamented it as wasteful and “an insult to the Cambodian people”.
“Most Cambodians have limited access to modern sanitation. For the cost of Sirindhorn’s toilet – to be used just for a single night – whole Cambodian villages could have been provided with proper sanitation,” author and former journalist Andrew MacGregor Marshall said..
