The World Toilet Expo as many face sanitation crisis

(16 Nov 2006) SHOTLIST

Bangkok, Thailand, 16 November 2006

1. Thai Public Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla, opening the World Toilet Expo by tugging on a ribbon attached to a "toilet" made of rolls of toilet paper

2. Minister sitting on toilet for photo opportunity

3. Various of toilets at the exhibition

4. Various of Japanese invention called "The Tornado" demonstrated by Dr Yuichi Narukiyo, of the Toto company, which invented it.

5. SOUNDBITE (Japanese) Dr. Yuichi Narukiyo, Toto Company:

"It’s not designed for lazy people! The idea is to create a toilet that is convenient and that helps the user relax."

6. Thai-designed toilet that floats on water.

7. Toilet with a tree in the foreground, part of an exhibit to show how to make toilets pleasant environments

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jack Sim, founder of World Toilet Organisation:

"If people are healthy they can produce better. If people are suppressing urination they might not study well in school or work well in the office. If people are sick, then they can’t work. So good sanitation and toilets means that people will be healthy and happy and that is the theme of this event."

Sleng village, Kompong Speu province, Cambodia, 5 August 2006

9. Wide of rice fields

10. Wide of boy in village in front of old-style home, and a cow

11. Newly-installed wooden toilet in village

12. Wide of local woman goes into toilet, giggling

13. Man looking at poster in village that displays different types of toilet

14. Close-up on drawing on poster of one type of toilet

15. Wide of local group playing a song at the party to celebrate the sanitation project

16. Local people

17. SOUNDBITE (Khmer language) Chan Nhorn, Village Chief:

"Before we had these toilets, we just went and did our business in the bushes or fields."

Bangkok, Thailand, 16 November 2006

18. Toilets on display at World Toilet Expo

19. Wide shot of exhibition in Bangkok

STORYLINE

We all do it but no one will thank you for talking about it.

Using the toilet, it seems, is a subject best kept behind closed doors.

But in Bangkok on Thursday, the World Toilet Expo and Forum aimed to change all that.

The event’s goal was to promote interest in and debate about sanitation as a way of drastically improving people’s health and lives.

According to UNICEF (United Nations Childrens’ Fund), more than one (b) billion people lack safe water, and one in three lacks even a basic toilet.

The two-day event, created by the World Toilet Organisation, or WTO, showcases the latest trends, technologies and innovations.

Among them is a Japanese designed toilet called "The Tornado" which is remotely-controlled using a hand-held unit.

The user can raise and lower the lid and seat, and activate water jets that squirt from different angles.

"It’s not designed for lazy people! The idea is to create a toilet that is convenient and that helps the user relax," said Dr Yuichi Narukiyo, of the Toto company, which invented it.

That’s a theme the WTO welcomes, breaking down the taboo over this most basic human function and showing how decent sanitary facilities raise the general standard of living.

"Good sanitation and toilets mean people will be healthy and happy and that is the theme of this event," said Jack Sim, founder of World Toilet Organisation.

The Expo’s slogan is "Happy Toilet Healthy Life" and several exhibits show how to turn the toilet into a pleasant place to spend these most private of moments.

Thailand’s own record in this field is seen as being very good, a large number of public toilets are clean, efficient and almost entirely lacking in graffiti or vandalism.



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