A Story From the Field: P'Tom and the Quietest His Court Has Been in Ten Years

P'Tom has run a two-court indoor futsal venue in Bang Ban district, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, for almost ten years. Every evening the courts are booked solid: factory workers' teams blowing off steam after a shift, students from the local secondary school, and the village's veteran players who still refuse to retire. On Saturdays and Sundays, a youth football academy rents the courts for training sessions full of eight- to twelve-year-olds. Right next door is the community's multipurpose sports ground, looked after by the subdistrict administration, where people play sepak takraw and volleyball and where local mothers gather for evening aerobics.

Bang Ban is a district that knows water well. Many families raise their houses on stilts and keep boats ready for the late rainy season. But this year the water came faster and higher than anyone expected. The futsal venue stood in floodwater for nearly three weeks. When the water finally drained away, P'Tom walked into the building and stopped. The artificial turf was stained brown with mud from end to end. The rubber infill that is scattered across the turf had washed into piles in the corners. The goal nets were streaked with green slime. The benches along the sidelines had sprouted patches of white mold. And the changing rooms and showers smelled so strongly of damp and drains that he had to step back outside to breathe. The metal lockers had rust and black mold along their edges. A forgotten basket of team bibs had turned into a single sour-smelling lump of fabric.

Regular customers started messaging on LINE to ask when the courts would reopen. The factory teams wanted to get back to playing to relieve the stress of the flood. Parents of the youth academy players asked whether the courts were clean enough for their children. P'Tom knew he was losing income every day the doors stayed shut. But he was also afraid that if he reopened too early, a player who slid across the floor and scraped a knee, or a child who showered in a changing room that was not truly clean, might get sick, and the story would spread around the village that his courts were not safe.

The subdistrict officer responsible for the community sports ground next door had the same worry on a bigger scale. Residents were already asking when the evening aerobics could restart. Rather than each of them solving the problem separately, P'Tom and the officer decided to call one team to look at both sites together.

Why Sports Facilities Are Riskier After a Flood Than They Look

Sport involves far more physical contact with surfaces than ordinary use of a building. Players fall, slide, sit on the floor between games and share equipment constantly. That raises the stakes after a flood in several ways:

• Scrapes and grazes from sliding. Futsal players hit the floor often. If the floor or turf still holds germs left by floodwater, a simple graze can become infected. Floodwater may also carry leptospira, the bacteria behind leptospirosis, which can enter the body through broken skin.
• Fungal infections of the skin and feet. Damp, stuffy changing rooms and showers are prime territory for the fungi that cause athlete's foot and other skin infections. The more people walk barefoot on the same floor, the faster these spread.
• The respiratory system. Players breathe hard and deep while they play. If the building still holds mold spores and fine dust from dried mud, it can irritate their airways, especially for children with allergies or asthma.
• Shared equipment. Balls, bibs, training cones and sometimes water bottles pass through dozens of hands and bodies every day.
• Slippery floors. A thin layer of slime or mud makes surfaces unusually slick, raising the risk of twisted ankles and fall injuries.

There is also the business side. A venue with a musty smell or mold stains in the changing room can lose loyal customers very quickly. Players have plenty of other courts to choose from, and word about cleanliness travels through team LINE groups much faster than most owners realize. A single photo of a moldy locker can undo years of good reputation in an afternoon.

For the community sports ground, the stakes are different but just as real. It is a free public space that many residents rely on for exercise, and after a flood people need somewhere to move, de-stress and see their neighbors. If it stays closed or feels unsafe, the people who lose out most are those who cannot afford a gym or a paid court.

What Needs Attention at a Futsal Venue and Community Sports Ground

• The playing surface. Artificial turf must be washed until all the mud is gone, and rubber infill heavily mixed with mud may need to be replaced. Rubber or PU sports flooring that has swollen or started to lift should be checked by a sports-flooring contractor first.
• Goal nets and perimeter netting. These collect mud and slime and need washing and disinfecting.
• Benches, spectator stands and the registration desk. These are where players rest and drop their bags.
• Changing rooms, lockers and showers. The dampest, stuffiest areas, and the most likely to have drain odors coming back up.
• Toilets and sinks. Drains may still hold sediment from the flood.
• Sports equipment. Balls, bibs, cones and goalkeeper gloves.
• The drinks counter and snack corner. Fridges and shelves must be cleaned before new stock goes in.
• The community's outdoor sports ground. Concrete surfaces with mud deposits and puddles that become mosquito breeding sites.

Mapping all of these before work starts lets the team plan the job in the right order, so that clean areas are not re-contaminated by work still going on elsewhere.

Common Approaches, and Why They Are Not Enough

• Pressure-washing alone. It is great for blasting away mud, but it does not disinfect, and the jet can drive mud even deeper into the layers beneath the turf.
• Pouring bleach over the artificial turf. It can fade the turf and make the material age faster, and the chlorine smell inside a closed building makes breathing uncomfortable for players.
• Running giant fans to dry everything. This helps dry the playing surface, but windowless changing rooms stay just as stuffy, and dried mud dust gets blown all over the building.
• Hanging deodorizer blocks in the changing room. They mask the smell for a short time, but the mold along locker edges and in tile grout is still there.

A sports venue needs the right kind of washing, thorough disinfection and proper control of musty odors in enclosed rooms, which takes more than water and a brush.

There is also a timing problem. Owners under pressure to reopen often do everything at once: wash, spray, switch on the lights and invite teams back the same weekend. When the changing room still smells the following week, they repeat the cleaning, and customers notice the venue being closed again. Doing the job once, in the right order and with the right methods, is almost always faster and cheaper than doing it twice.

The Solution: Fogging the Whole Venue Plus Ozone Treatment for the Changing Rooms

The WHD team uses its disinfection fogging service with CHEMGENE HLD4H delivered through ULV foggers. This suits large open areas like the courts, stands and benches, because the fine mist spreads widely and reaches into netting and under seating. For the changing rooms, showers and equipment store, which are enclosed spaces where musty odors build up, the team uses its ozone treatment service to deal with mold spores and break down the molecules that cause the smell.

Step-by-Step Process

1. Site survey. The team inspects the courts, changing rooms, showers, drains and the community sports ground, and plans the work around the date you want to reopen.
2. Advice on mud removal and sorting. The team recommends washing all mud from the turf and floors first, throwing away rotten bibs and fabrics, and separating equipment that can be cleaned.
3. Chemgene HLD4H fogging. The mist is applied across the playing surfaces, nets, benches, stands, lockers, showers, toilets and the outdoor sports ground.
4. Ozone treatment for changing rooms and storage. Each room is sealed and treated according to its size, with no people, pets or plants inside. Sound systems, electronic scoreboards and some rubber items are covered or moved out on the team's advice, and a controlled ozone dose is used.
5. Ventilation. Doors and exhaust fans are opened until the ozone has broken down, before staff go back in.
6. A check before reopening. The team checks odor in the changing rooms, mold along locker edges and any areas that are still damp, and gives advice for ongoing care.

For outdoor sports grounds that still have standing water, a mosquito spraying service can be added to cut down the mosquitoes that bother players in the evening.

Safety Points to Know

• No one may be inside during ozone treatment. Post "do not enter" signs on the doors of changing rooms and showers.
• Artificial turf and rubber infill are rubber-based materials, so they should not be exposed to high ozone concentrations for long periods. That is why the team relies on fogging for the playing surface and uses ozone mainly in enclosed rooms.
• Floodlights, sockets and electrical panels that were underwater must be checked by an electrician before use.
• After fogging, wait for the floor to dry as advised before allowing play, to avoid slips.

It also helps to brief the whole staff before treatment day. Cleaners, the person who runs the drinks counter and the coaches should all know which rooms are closed, for how long and why. When everyone understands the plan, nobody wanders into a changing room during ozone treatment to grab a forgotten phone charger, and nobody switches on a floodlight before the electrician has given the all-clear.

Bang Ban Floods Often: Sports Venues Need a Long-Term Plan

Bang Ban sits in low-lying land where water often rises toward the end of the rainy season. Venue owners and the people who look after community sports grounds should think beyond a one-time clean-up. Simple changes make a big difference: mount lockers on raised legs, replace wooden benches with materials that do not soak up water, move sockets and the floodlight control panel above the highest flood level you have seen, and set aside high shelving where balls and bibs can be stored as soon as a flood warning is issued.

With a clear plan, the next time the water comes the recovery will be shorter, cheaper and faster, and the courts will be back in use sooner. The WHD team can point out improvements worth considering based on what they see during the site survey.

Extra Care for the Youth Academy

Children are not just small adults. They spend more time on the floor, touch their faces more often, share water bottles without thinking and are more likely to play in socks or bare feet during breaks. Many youth players also have mild allergies that flare when a room is damp. For the weekend academy sessions, it is worth going a step further than for adult evening games. Ask coaches to bring their own clean bibs for the first few weeks, set up a hand-washing point that children must use before and after training, and keep the changing room doors open so the air stays fresh. Coaches can also check each child's knees and elbows after sessions and make sure any graze is washed and covered before the child goes home. These small habits, combined with a properly treated venue, give parents real reasons to feel confident sending their children back.

How Long Should the Venue Stay Closed? A Realistic Timeline

• First days after the water recedes: Take photos for insurance and records, shovel out thick mud, remove rotten fabrics and call an electrician to check the lighting and sockets.
• Next few days: Pressure-wash the turf and floors, flush the shower and toilet drains, and have the flooring contractor assess the playing surface and infill.
• Treatment day: Fog the courts, nets, benches and outdoor ground with Chemgene HLD4H, run the ozone treatment in the changing rooms and storage, and ventilate.
• The day after treatment: Final check of odors and damp spots, set out the new hygiene signs and reopen, starting with adult bookings if you want extra time before the youth sessions resume.

The exact length depends on how deep and how long the water stood, but planning in stages like this helps owners give customers a realistic reopening date instead of guessing.

Turf, Infill and Floors: Working With Your Flooring Contractor

Disinfection deals with germs and odors, but it cannot fix a surface that has been physically damaged. After three weeks underwater, the backing of artificial turf can loosen, the base underneath can shift and the infill can become compacted with silt. PU and rubber sports floors can bubble or peel at the seams. That is why the team recommends having the flooring contractor inspect the court before or alongside the disinfection work. If sections need to be lifted or replaced, it is better to know before treatment, so the newly exposed base can be cleaned and fogged too, rather than having to repeat the work later.

10 Reasons Venue Owners and Local Administrations Choose WHD

1. Disinfection fogging covers large areas quickly.
2. The mist reaches into netting, under benches and along locker edges.
3. Ozone treatment tackles musty odors in windowless changing rooms and showers.
4. CHEMGENE HLD4H does not leave a sharp chlorine smell inside an enclosed building.
5. Methods are matched to court materials, with no high-dose ozone on turf and rubber infill.
6. Work is planned around your reopening date, reducing lost income.
7. Private courts and the community sports ground can be handled in one visit.
8. The Chemgene HLD4H spray lets staff wipe benches and balls between games.
9. An add-on mosquito spraying service is available for outdoor areas.
10. Practical advice on keeping changing rooms dry after reopening.

Before and After Restoring the Futsal Venue

A Customer's Perspective (Sample Scenario)

"What customers complained about most was the smell in the changing rooms. The team fogged the whole venue and did an ozone treatment in the changing rooms. On reopening day, one of our regular teams walked in and said it smelled better than before the flood. The parents of the kids in the academy felt much more at ease too."
— Owner of an indoor futsal venue, Bang Ban district (scenario based on field experience)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How soon after fogging can we reopen for play?
A: Once the floor has dried for the time the team recommends and any ozone-treated rooms have been properly ventilated. In general, the team plans the work so you can reopen the next day.

Q: Do we need to replace the artificial turf?
A: It depends on its condition after washing. If the turf is still firm and the mud washes out, it can usually be kept, but infill that is heavily mixed with mud may need replacing. A sports-flooring contractor should assess it as well.

Q: Can bibs and balls that were underwater be used again?
A: Balls can be washed with soapy water and wiped with disinfectant. Bibs should be washed in hot water and dried completely. If they still smell or show mold, throw them away.

Q: Can the subdistrict's sports ground use the service?
A: Yes. The team can provide details of the work to support the agency's decision, and can plan the job together with a nearby private venue.

Q: Will the drain smell in the showers go away?
A: Ozone treatment reduces musty odor in the room, but if the drains still hold sediment or the U-shaped trap has dried out, the smell will return. Flush the drains and refill the traps with water as well.

Q: What should players with wounds do?
A: Cover the wound fully before playing and wash it straight after. If a player develops a fever or muscle pain after contact with floodwater, they should see a doctor.

Q: Can you treat the venue while the community ground next door is still flooded?
A: Yes. The indoor venue can be treated first, and the outdoor ground can follow once the water has gone and the mud has been cleared.

New Hygiene Rules After Reopening

• Set up a foot-washing and shoe-brushing point at the entrance, so mud from the road does not come inside.
• Ask players to wear sandals in the showers rather than walking barefoot.
• Run the exhaust fans in the changing rooms during opening hours, and leave the doors open after closing.
• Wash bibs every day and dry them completely, never leaving damp fabric in a basket.
• Wipe benches and balls with disinfectant spray between sessions.

Posting these rules on a simple sign by the entrance and in the team LINE groups shows customers that the venue takes hygiene seriously. Many owners find that clear communication after a flood actually strengthens customer loyalty, because players appreciate knowing what has been done. For more on preventing disease after floods, see the Department of Disease Control.

Reopen Your Courts Quickly, and Let Everyone Play Safely

Talk to the WHD team to plan court fogging and changing-room ozone treatment before your reopening day.

See Disinfection Service – Click Here

Book Ozone Treatment – Click Here

Call 065-556-6294 · LINE @whd268 · Email worldhealthdisinfection@gmail.com

Related Links

• Ozone treatment for odors and chemical residue
• Master Ozone Generator
• Mosquito spraying service
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Health references: World Health Organization (WHO): Floods · Department of Disease Control, Thailand