ASIDE from murky, teh tarik to kopi-O coloured pipe water, filthy public toilet condition in Kelantan has provoked the ire of a fashion and interior-obsessed traveller to the state.

This has led to Threader Hana Mansor (@hanamansor) concluding that the PAS-ruled state is “a city with no proper planning and no clean toilets”.

“Most toilets smell the same maybe due to the air boring (tubewell water) emitting soil-like smell,” the self-proclaimed business owner and mother of two beautiful boys penned in a post which garnered 6.4K likes, 843 comments, 621 re-posts and 657 shares at the time of writing.

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“Not a single toilet is dry and clean whether it’s a market or an eatery. Even toilets at eateries are unclean. Just compare it a little with the public toilets in Cyberjaya which are in much better state.”

Interestingly, a number of Kelantanese concurred with the observation of the seasoned IT security sales professional – a testament that her revelation is not to shame Kelantan which is deemed the epicentre of PAS power base from a political stand-point.

“I’m a Kelantanese who was born and raised outside and just moved to KB (state capital Kota Bahru) in the past 10 years. I agree. Water is one thing but the reality here is that most people don’t know how to maintain cleanliness,” testified a woman KB-based medical practitioner.

“Look at public places, there’s trash everywhere. Perhaps better for you to just stop at the mosque next time. Insya’Allah the toilet there is clean.”

This was when some commenters cautioned that similar filthy condition prevails at toilets in most mosques with sights of “clogged excrement”.

“True. Mosque toilets are similarly dirty. Sometimes their doors are broken LOL. There’re a few clean ones such as those at the Masjid Buluh in Gua Musang,” quipped one seemingly regular traveller to Kelantan.

I don’t even bother to step foot into toilets at R&R faucitis along the expressways. Once the car door is open, one can already smell the stench from afar hahahaha.
When I travel, I’ll choose Petron toilets. So far, Petron toilets are the cleanest compared to other gas stations.

‘Isn’t cleanliness half of faith?’

This was when a Kelantanese admitted that her state folks “are stubborn and would easily snap at criticism levelled at them”.

“That’s why the state is slow to progress because it leaders don’t know how to accept criticism and initiate changes,” she jibed.

The topic of hygiene prompted one seemingly avid traveller “to theorise that the more Islamic the state is, the dirtier it is”.

“Kelantan, Arab, Middle East countries (same goes to Bangladesh) … Maybe Islam is only for solat (prayer) with little emphasis on cleanliness,” commented one nadiah najib (@nadiahnajib). “This maybe controversial but majority are like this.”

“I kind of agree with your statement. And most of Muslim dominated areas in the UK, Europe and US are indeed dirty, slump and labelled as ghetto … hmm,” attested another.

“You can only see these slump places if you walk alone into an area where tourist buses won’t be passing by.”

This somehow jives with the remark of one commenter who claimed that her father “has given up on toilets in Kelantan”.

“So finally, we’ve to stop by the mosque or surau. If the toilet at the mosque or surau is dirty, at least my father would take the initiative to clean them first before using them,” she quipped.

“That’s one thing to wait for him, hahaha but isn’t cleanliness half of faith?”

The eye-opener observation from the poster has somehow fuelled frustration of a local who attributed the root cause to “residents themselves as well as the state government who’re reluctant to embrace change or have no initiative to do so till development is slow, especially on the public infrastructure front”.

Last but not least, a commenter has pleaded to the Kelantan Menteri Besar to address the state’s public toilet woes.

“For starters, you can visit the Tasek Raja bus station toilet in Pasir Mas which luckily I didn’t bring my boss there. Otherwise, I would definitely have been given a tongue lashing.” – Oct 28, 2026

Main image credit: I Love Kuala Krai/Facebook

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