A Story From the Field: Multiplication Tables Under the Sala Roof

"Teacher Wanphen" teaches second grade at a sub-district primary school on the banks of the Tha Chin River in Song Phi Nong district, Suphan Buri. When the Tha Chin overflowed in early October 2026, the ground floor of her school went under water almost to the window sills. Desks, chairs, bookshelves, charts, flash cards and the small library were ruined. The school director went to the abbot of the neighboring temple and asked a simple, humble question: could the children use the temple's sala, its large preaching hall, as a classroom until the school buildings were repaired? The abbot agreed without hesitation.

The sala is an old wooden hall raised on posts, standing on slightly higher ground than the school. Even so, at the peak of the flood, water crept in beneath it and rose to touch the lowest floorboards for several days. When the water finally went down, teachers, monks, novices and villagers worked side by side. They scraped mud out of the gaps between the boards, carried soaked mats and sitting cushions out into the sun, and lined up folding tables that had been donated by a company in town. Within a few days, more than eighty children were sitting in neat rows under the high sala roof. In the mornings, the sound of children chanting their multiplication tables mixed with the bell calling the monks to morning chanting. It was, in its way, a beautiful picture of a community holding together.

But before a week had passed, Teacher Wanphen began to notice something worrying. More children were coughing and sneezing. Several complained of itchy eyes and itchy legs. A girl with a known allergy had to stay home for two days. Every morning, a damp, musty smell rose from the wooden floor, strongest in the corner where the wet mats had been piled. On the wooden posts and on the north-facing wall, round black spots had appeared. The restroom behind the sala still smelled of the drains, as if sewage had backed up and never fully cleared.

So the question facing the school and the temple was no longer just "How do we clean this?" It became: "How do we disinfect and remove mold from a sacred place so that children can study safely, without disturbing the monks' religious duties, and without any disrespect toward the Buddha images and the temple's revered objects?" This article brings together the approach that the World Health Disinfection (WHD) team uses for this kind of work, from planning jointly with the temple and the school, to disinfection fogging and controlled ozone treatment.

Why a Sala Used as a Temporary Classroom Needs Special Care

A sala was never designed to be a classroom. It is built for sermons, merit-making ceremonies, community meetings and festivals. When it suddenly has to host dozens of children every weekday for weeks or months, several risks stack up in one open space.

• Many children share one open area. Children sit on the floor or on mats, pass pencils and books to each other, share snacks and constantly put their hands to their mouths. If floors and tables still carry germs from the floodwater, the chance of spreading infection is much higher than in an ordinary family home.
• Floodwater carries germs. Water that has flowed through rice fields, animal pens, latrines and drains can leave behind E. coli, other diarrhea-causing organisms and Leptospira bacteria, the cause of leptospirosis. These can linger in the gaps of the floor and in the damp ground under the hall.
• Old timber holds moisture deep inside. The floorboards, posts and wooden ceiling of an older sala soak up water. The surface may look dry within two or three days, but the core stays wet for much longer. That hidden moisture lets mold keep growing and releasing spores into the air every day.
• There are many soft furnishings. Sitting cushions, mats, carpets, curtains and the cloths used during ceremonies all trap dampness and odor. If they are not dried completely, they become hidden mold reservoirs that re-contaminate the room.
• Restrooms and hand-washing points are shared. The restroom behind the sala is often used by monks, lay visitors and now schoolchildren. Sediment in the drains or backflow from the sewer makes this one of the most important places to control in order to prevent diarrheal illness.
• It is a sacred place. The hall houses Buddha images, a preaching throne, cabinets of scriptures and offerings that villagers deeply revere. Every step of the work must have the temple's permission and be carried out with restraint and respect.

The impact is not only on health. When children fall ill repeatedly, parents have to take time off work to care for them, teachers have to repeat lessons, and the learning that was already lost during the flood shrinks further. The temple, too, carries the burden of moisture and odor that can make its wooden structure and contents deteriorate faster. Restoring the sala systematically from the start costs less time and effort than fixing problems one by one, again and again.

Children's Health, Mold, Dampness and Floodwater: What Teachers Should Know

The information in this section is general knowledge, not medical advice. If a child shows unusual or persistent symptoms, please take them to a doctor or to the nearest sub-district health promoting hospital.

• Breathing: Mold spores and fine dust from dried mud can trigger coughing, sneezing and a blocked nose, especially in children with allergies or asthma. Symptoms that improve on weekends and return on school days are a clue that the classroom environment is part of the problem.
• Stomach and digestion: Hands that touch a contaminated floor or table and then pick up food can lead to diarrhea or vomiting. Young children are particularly vulnerable because they lose fluids quickly.
• Skin: Sitting on damp floors or on mats that still carry germs can cause itchy rashes or skin infections, especially where a child already has a scratch or insect bite.
• Leptospirosis: After floods, rats often move into the space under salas and into temple grounds. If children walk barefoot through mud, or if a cut comes into contact with standing water, the risk of leptospirosis rises. Children should always wear shoes outside the hall.
• Eyes and allergies: Damp air and airborne mold can leave some children with itchy or red eyes and a constantly runny nose.

Teachers can help immediately: have children wash their hands with soap before eating, keep them from sitting on spots that are still damp, place seating away from walls with visible mold, and let parents know when a child shows repeated symptoms. For more on post-flood illness, see the Thai Department of Disease Control, the Department of Health, and the WHO fact sheet on floods and health.

Why the Usual Quick Fixes Fall Short in a Sala

• Pouring bleach everywhere. Bleach has a harsh smell that irritates children's eyes and noses. It is not suitable for old timber floors, carved woodwork or gilded lacquer decorations, which it can discolor or damage. It does not soak deep into the wood where mold has taken root, and it must never be mixed with toilet cleaners, which can release dangerous gas.
• Running fans to dry things out. Fans are useful for ventilation, but blowing them across areas that already have mold simply spreads spores throughout the hall where the children are sitting.
• Burning incense or spraying air freshener. Large amounts of incense smoke in a space full of children can irritate their airways. Air fresheners only mask the smell for a while; they do nothing about its source.
• Painting or oiling over the wood. Sealing timber that is still damp and moldy traps moisture inside. Before long, the mold returns and the paint or oil starts to peel.
• Wiping only what you can see. Much of the contamination and odor sits under the floorboards, in the grooves between planks, behind cabinets and beneath the preaching throne, where cloths and hands simply cannot reach.

A sala serving as a temporary classroom therefore needs a complete approach: remove all the mud, dry the structure properly, disinfect every crevice, and deal with mold spores and odor in the air, choosing methods and timing that suit a place of worship.

The Solution: Chemgene HLD4H Disinfection Fogging and Controlled Ozone Treatment, Carried Out With Respect

WHD provides a professional disinfection fogging service using CHEMGENE HLD4H delivered through ULV (ultra-low volume) fogging equipment. The mist is so fine that it drifts into the gaps between floorboards, under tables, behind posts and into the dead corners that a cloth cannot reach. Chemgene is used in healthcare settings and does not have the sharp smell of bleach, which makes it a good fit for spaces that children will return to.

This is combined with our ozone treatment service. Ozone gas at a controlled concentration spreads throughout the space, helping to destroy mold spores and break down the molecules responsible for musty, muddy and sewer odors. The air in the sala becomes fresh again without having to cover the smell with fragrance.

Principles of Respect We Follow Every Time

• Ask permission and plan with the temple. Our team arranges a meeting with the abbot or the person the temple designates, together with the school director, to agree on the scope of the work.
• The temple moves its sacred objects itself. Buddha images, scripture cabinets, palm-leaf texts, the preaching throne, altar offerings and anything villagers revere are moved or invited out by the temple according to its own customs. Our team does not touch these items, and we keep our distance or cover them in the way the temple asks.
• Schedule around the monks' routine. We avoid Buddhist holy days, morning and evening chanting, meal times and days with merit-making ceremonies. Work is typically done on a Friday afternoon or a weekend afternoon when there are no classes.
• Dress and behave with restraint. Team members remove shoes where the temple requires it, keep noise low and wear tidy protective clothing.
• Old documents and wet records. Temple record books, old books and palm-leaf manuscripts should never be sprayed or ozone-treated directly. They should be set aside in a dry place and referred to a professional document conservator.

Step-by-Step Service for a Sala Used as a Classroom

1. Survey and joint meeting. We walk through the sala, the space underneath, the restrooms and storage rooms with representatives of the temple and the school. Together we identify visible mold, areas that are still damp and items that need to be moved.
2. Mud and clean-up advice. We advise on flushing mud out of the floor gaps, taking mats, cushions and fabrics out to be washed or dried in strong sunlight, discarding items that are beyond saving, and opening the hall so air can flow until the timber is truly dry.
3. The temple moves sacred items; the school removes its equipment. The temple acts according to its customs. The school removes or tightly covers notebooks, textbooks and electronic equipment such as projectors and speakers.
4. Chemgene HLD4H fogging. We fog the floor, posts, folding tables, chairs, stair rails, restrooms and accessible areas beneath the hall, with extra attention to the surfaces children touch most often.
5. Controlled ozone treatment. We close the area as much as the sala's structure allows, block the entrances, post warning signs and run the ozone generator for a period that fits the size of the space, with a dose controlled to suit old timber and the materials inside.
6. Ventilation. When the treatment time is over, all doors and windows are opened and we wait until the ozone has broken back down into oxygen before anyone is allowed back in.
7. Re-check and hand-over. We walk the hall again to check odor and the spots that had mold, explain ongoing care, and the temple then returns its sacred objects to their places according to its customs.

10 Reasons Temples and Schools in Song Phi Nong Choose a Systematic Sala Restoration

1. Lower risk for children who sit on the floor, thanks to disinfection fogging across the timber floor and folding tables.
2. The fine mist reaches floor grooves and the backs of posts, places that hand-wiping never covers completely.
3. A disinfectant without a harsh smell, CHEMGENE HLD4H, suitable for spaces used by children and elderly worshippers.
4. Odor removed at the source through ozone treatment, instead of incense smoke or perfume.
5. Helps stop mold from spreading in old timber that is still holding moisture.
6. Planned around the monks' schedule, with no disruption to holy days, chanting or ceremonies.
7. Respect for sacred objects, which the temple moves itself while our team keeps its hands off.
8. Teachers feel confident teaching again, and parents feel reassured knowing the space has been disinfected.
9. The shared restroom is taken care of, a key point for preventing diarrheal illness, with advice for daily upkeep.
10. Easy to extend when the school moves back, with ozone disinfection for the repaired classrooms and mosquito control around the grounds.

Before and After Restoring the Sala

A Customer's Voice (Illustrative Scenario)

"At first the temple and the school were very worried about what could and could not be done inside the sala. But the team spoke with the abbot first, let the temple invite the Buddha image out and put away the important things itself, and then scheduled the work for a Saturday afternoon with no ceremonies. On Monday the children came back, the musty smell was mostly gone, and we teachers felt much more at ease."

— Teacher Wanphen (pseudonym), primary school teacher, Song Phi Nong district

Caring for the Sala While It Serves as a Classroom

Professional treatment gives the sala a clean start, but the weeks that follow matter just as much. A few simple habits keep the hall healthy for both the children and the temple.

• Keep doors, windows and vents open during school hours so that air can pass through from both sides.
• Place tables at least an arm's length away from walls and posts that once had mold.
• Use plastic mats that can be wiped clean instead of carpets or reed mats that were soaked.
• Set up a hand-washing point with soap near the sala stairs and have children wash their hands before lunch every day.
• Wipe tables, stair rails and restroom door handles after classes each day using the Chemgene disinfectant spray.
• Store food and snacks in sealed boxes and never leave scraps overnight, so rats and insects are not attracted.
• Watch for black spots, white powdery patches or returning musty smells, and tell the temple or our team straight away.
• With mosquitoes multiplying after the water recedes, consider a mosquito spraying service around the temple grounds on a day without classes.

When the school buildings are repaired and the children move back, it is a good idea to clean and treat the sala once more before handing it back to the temple for its regular religious use. It is a small way of thanking the temple for opening its doors to the community in a difficult time, and it helps protect the old timber for many years to come.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Must the Buddha image always be moved out of the sala?
A: That is the temple's decision. Some temples choose to invite the image out; others prefer to keep a distance and cover it appropriately. Our team follows the temple's guidance and never handles sacred objects ourselves.

Q: How long does it take, and when can children return?
A: It depends on the size of the sala and how damp it is. In most cases the work, including ventilation time, is finished within one day, and we recommend that children return the following day.

Q: Does Chemgene HLD4H have a strong smell or leave residue?
A: It does not have the harsh smell of bleach, and it is applied as a fine mist in an appropriate amount. Once surfaces are dry, they can be used normally.

Q: The sala is very open. Does ozone still work?
A: We assess this on site. If the hall is very open, we focus mainly on disinfection fogging and use ozone only in the parts that can be closed, such as storerooms, restrooms or side rooms.

Q: What should we do with old temple books and records that got wet?
A: Do not spray or ozone-treat documents directly. Keep them separate in a dry place and consult a professional document conservator.

Q: Which areas do you serve?
A: All of Song Phi Nong district, including Bang Len, Ban Kum, Bang Takhian, Ton Tan and Hua Pho, as well as nearby districts such as Bang Pla Ma, U Thong and Mueang Suphan Buri.

Make the Sala a Safe Place for Children and the Community Again

Free consultation and joint planning with the temple and the school. Serving Song Phi Nong and surrounding districts.

View Disinfection Service - Click Here

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

Related Articles and Links

• CHEMGENE HLD4H disinfectant
• Ozone treatment for odors and chemical residue
• Mosquito spraying service
• All articles
• External sources: WHO: Floods and health and the Thai Department of Disease Control

#TempleSalaDisinfection #PostFloodDisinfection #DisinfectionService #OzoneTreatment #MoldRemoval #MustyOdorRemoval #Chemgene #SongPhiNongFloodRecovery

Keywords: temple sala disinfection after flood, temporary classroom in a temple, post-flood disinfection, ozone treatment temple, mold removal, musty odor removal, Song Phi Nong, Suphan Buri 2026