Tuesday, August 22, 2023

Uniquely Themed Toilets @ Terminal 21 Rama 3 in Bangkok [Thailand]

The modern human takes a lot of things for granted and an example would the toilet. Long known for their unsanitary yet essential activities, it's the last place you would have expected a commercial entity to put so much focus in. 

Aside from being utterly clean, each cubicle at Terminal 21 Rama 3 toilets was decked out with seat sanitizer and installation of the highly sought after, western water closets with electronic bidets that wiped our ass so cleanly! 

Surprises didn't stop there; the chain of terminal 21 shopping malls was renowned for its eye-catching decorations that made it a wonderland for photo taking and the operator took a step further by having uniquely themed toilets that photographers wouldn't be able to resist to check out! 

Wizard Express 
Plain white walls leading to the washrooms are so yesterday; right here at Terminal 21 Rama 3, tiled walls leading to the toilet, with elements relating to the theme of the toilet. In this case, it was the era of the harry potter, on his first day taking the train to Hogwarts! 

Reminiscent of London of the past, there were even water buckets to extinguish the fire, instead of the more common fire extinguishers we see nowadays.

Inside the male washrooms since I can't barge into the ladies. Obviously no expense was spared in decorating the toilets, which would have been right at place in the Orient Express

Italian Bistro
The mascot of a smiling chef would have enticed customers to check out the eatery but that would have sounded kind of contradicting given that you would be going in to expunge and not (and should not) to eat anything.

Waiting area with tomato wines.

Checkered toilet doors and gigantic tomato and capsicum lamps on the ceiling, coupled with ingredient list of on the walls to make a mean pizza / pasta! 

French Pattiserie
Humongous macaroons shall appeal to those who enjoy these sweet yet expensive desserts and it's kind of romantic to walk through the wooden pickets that were painted green and adorned with climbing roses. 

The sakura blossoms were an overkill though and I thought it would have been nice and more consistent to have roses instead. 

Don't you just love the oven doors; baking shall take place behind the doors, and sometimes, it shall result in a chocolate cake that will be placed on top of a fine china plate, similar to those above the urinals.

Japanese Onsen
A psychological chill enveloped me as I stepped into the onsen area. The white tiles cleverly gave the visual contrast that it would be a layer of snow. 

Drawing inspiration from Jigokudani Monkey Park, where wild Japanese macaques, also known as snow monkeys, were known to soak blissfully in the onsen during winter. 

One of them, a young monkey, could be seen watching, likely tik tok videos on a mobile phone. Such is the allure of mobile devices, even among monkeys. 

Bamboo walls lent authenticity.

Tubs typically filled with hot onsen water acted as sinks whereas bamboo-designed taps shall dispense the mineral rich water for us to clean our hands after our acts of expulsion. Loving the large format photograph that gave one the impression it was a window! 

A Japanese haiku. 
Any reference to the act of urination?

Do note that the housekeepers here will put on aprons and they did a marvelous job in maintaining the cleanliness of the toilets! I would have voted Terminal 21 as the best shopping mall toilet in the whole of Thailand. 

Toilet humor; mural of people downing their bowl of ramen soup while the men urinate right in front of them. Funny for me though! 

Japanese Ramen
My friend, who is a Japanese-Thai mixed, claimed this was the most "scary" toilet! 

Main reason, the giant bowl of ramen with a curtain of thick monstrous strands of noodle held up by a pair of jumbo chopsticks! Apparently a monstrosity for ramen lovers like my friend.

A replica of the street carts in Japan that offered ramen.

Statue of a man holding on to a bowl of ramen outside the ladies seemed so strange. Why would a person do that? Maybe a hint of the pervertism in the land of the rising sun.

Inside of the gents. You can literally have a meal in here!

Cubicle doors with delicious pictures of ramen that made me hungry after releasing my bowels. And it's hilarious to have pictures of customers downing their ramen soup while we pee! 

Illuminated mirror in the shape of an onsen egg although I was more impressed with the 'sink' as it was the typical utensil used in the brewing of the ramen broth.

Hollywood Walk
Red carpet was a giveaway that there's something famous coming our way and I can't wait to step in to see what the fuss was all about. 

Especially with all the 'photographers' clamoring to take that shot where your pictures can sell for thousands, in virtual, useless money. Well, the toilet was next to the management office of Terminal 21 Rama 3. Such was the convenience! 

Starry ceiling, classy chandelier, marble flooring, mirrors with gold plated frames etc; such was the star opulence and luxury. Only thing lacking was an in house staff whose main job was to pass you some towels to wipe your hands and offer a few spritzes of Jo Malone best colognes. 

American Diner
Neon arrow pointing to the direction of the toilets. This was one of the busiest toilets, I feel, in the whole shopping center since it was the nearest to the food court. 

Checkered tile flooring, which was quite common in American diners. In Singapore, we used to have a restaurant by the name of Denny's that had quite similar decoration.

T21 Diner - Served All Day; it's ironic that food is directly related to our bowel movement yet many people still find it weird to talk about them together. Just talk; no one is asking you to eat while you are shitting. 

I wouldn't be surprised some people would mistake the sinks as retro bar stools and sit on them! Prefer to have them for home? You can get them from this website

Urinal area can double up as a disco dance floor with some nice music, and don't you just love the primary colors of the misplaced floor tiles; like tetris! I bet the next Terminal 21 shopping mall would have a toilet with gaming theme.

Tour de France
I had assumed this would have something to do with cars, given the road signs, although a closer look would reveal the vehicle that shall be the main focus.

Bicycles and this theme appeared to be based on Tour de France; the most prestigious bicycle race in the world! Now, I love to cycle but I am more a leisure biker, preferring to relax with the wind breezing against my face.

Interior; the bicycle at the urinal was quite a letdown even though a halo above it might speak of some story behind its placement. Cubicle doors were like a workshop; I wonder if the ladies washroom would be any different. 

Grand Union Canal
What came to mind?
For me, it's the Paddington Bear! 

Emitting an old English cottage feel. I have never been to United Kingdom but I guess I should as my sisters and I had been talking about a sibling trip ever since my last one to South Korea

A wooden steering wheel that would make a toddler very happy; toddler of the past, that is, as the generation nowadays is too drawn to tablets! p.s. I am guilty of that too. 

There was a medieval vibe with wood crafted paintings. Weird to have floats on the ceiling; the middles of the floats (also known as swimming rings) also strangely had photos of the cloudy sky. 

Malibu Surfrider Beach
I remember this to be at the basement (known as lower ground in some countries) where the floor was known as the Caribbean. Again, the clever use of tiles to segregate the 'sandy beach' from the 'sea'.

Malibu Beach at Los Angeles is famous for its towering waves, where it can hit as high as 4.5 meters in normal times, and even reach 7 plus meters during hurricane season!

Most recognizable icon for surfing would be the surfing boards and you can see many vibrant designs dotted all over the themed toilet.

Sinks indicated malibu beach and there you have a picture of Waikiki. Both are in United States although the latter was located much further away in Hawaii! p.s. loving the mirrors that had a surfing board design. 

Most impressive, for me, was the line of surfing board dividers in between the urinals! Just wondering, would anyone steal those surfing boards and attempt to use them?

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Address
356 Rama III Rd, Bang Khlo, 
Bang Kho Laem, Terminal 21,
Bangkok 10120, Thailand

Map
As above.

Website

2 comments:

  1. Rabiatul9:51 AM

    So interesting, thanks for sharing! Now I wonder how the ladies' toilets look like.

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    Replies
    1. wahahaha maybe i can ask my sisters to check out and take some photos.

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