High-Risk Surfaces in Schools That Are Routinely Missed

• Outdoor play equipment — slides, handrails, swings: touched by dozens of children per day
• Desks and chairs — especially edges and undersides that children habitually touch
• Classroom toys and materials — blocks, dolls, play-dough that toddlers regularly place in their mouths
• Toilets and handwashing stations — taps, door handles, floor surfaces
• Canteen tables and food preparation surfaces
• Stair railings and door handles — contacted every time a child moves between floors
• Sleeping mats and pillows in child development centres — used for daily nap time

Impact on Parents and the Community

• Parents must take 5–7 days of leave per sick-child episode, directly affecting household incomes
• Trust in the school and the municipality erodes — some parents explore transferring to private schools
• The parent LINE group becomes a rapid negative-news amplifier reaching the entire community

Impact on the School and Its Leadership

• Teachers and staff risk infection and absence, disrupting the teaching programme
• The principal is accountable to the school board and must respond publicly to parents
• Emergency school closure may be ordered by health authorities, affecting examination schedules
• The school's long-term reputation in the community suffers measurably

Impact on the Municipality (เทศบาล/อบต.)

• The mayor or subdistrict administrator faces direct political pressure from constituents
• The municipal council may table formal interpellations about hygiene management in schools under jurisdiction
• Emergency budget must be diverted to hire private spray contractors after the fact, rather than preventing the problem in advance

SOLO Port 423 — Technical Specifications

• 2-stroke petrol engine, 72.3cc, 3.0 kW / 4.1 HP
• Liquid tank: 12 litres (Evolution models: 14 or 18 litres)
• Peak air volume: ~23,333 litres/minute
• Continuous runtime: ~80 minutes per fuel fill
• Fuel consumption: ~1 litre/hour
• Dry weight: ~12 kg with ergonomic full-body harness
• Application mode: liquid ULV fine mist AND dry powder/granule
• German-made: SOLO brand, CE-certified

With peak air output of ~23,333 litres per minute, disinfectant mist is projected in a wide, powerful arc simultaneously across large areas. Two operators with SOLO Port 423 units can cover a school of 2,000–3,000 m² with three to four buildings and an outdoor playground in four to five hours — comfortably within a single working day before term reopens.

Airborne micro-droplets penetrate the joints of plastic chairs, the crevices of toys, the undersides of desks, the corners of toilet stalls, and every surface that hands and cloths structurally cannot reach. This is the difference between "surface cleaning" and "true virucidal disinfection" — a distinction that matters critically with the resilient Enterovirus responsible for HFMD.

When parents see staff in protective gear systematically deploying a professional-grade motorised disinfection system through every classroom, corridor, and playground, it creates ten times more confidence than any written announcement. Several schools have posted short video clips of the SOLO Port 423 disinfection process in their parent LINE groups — receiving an immediate wave of positive responses and restored trust.

The Port 423's powerful throw projects mist across outdoor play structures, flagpoles, perimeter fencing, and open-air paved areas in moments — without requiring staff to physically contact each surface. These are precisely the high-traffic areas most consistently missed in manual cleaning routines and most likely to harbour residual virus between terms.

Instead of assigning three or four cleaning staff to wipe thousands of surfaces over multiple exhausting days, one or two operators with the SOLO Port 423 complete the same task in a fraction of the time. Staff fatigue is minimised, and remaining time before term reopens can be invested in other preparation tasks.

Throughout the academic year, the SOLO Port 423 delivers: influenza outbreak disinfection, mosquito ULV spraying around school grounds to prevent dengue, quarterly hygiene spraying per Ministry of Education protocols, and pest management in the school canteen. One capital purchase serves multiple function codes throughout the year.

The ergonomic backpack harness system means operators walk freely throughout every part of the school — up and down staircases, into narrow toilet blocks, into the staff room, the computer lab, and storage areas — completely untethered. One hundred percent of the school's floor plan can be reached without infrastructure or logistics support.

ULV application uses substantially less liquid disinfectant per square metre than flood-spray or cloth-wiping methods, because micro-droplets achieve full surface contact at much lower volumes. This directly reduces the annual chemical expenditure for the school or municipality — an additional budget argument for procurement approval.

The SOLO Port 423 fits within several standard Thai government budget categories. WHD provides complete procurement support: official quotations, Thai-language technical specification sheets for TOR drafting, CE certification documentation, and product warranty assurance — all required for compliant e-GP procurement under the Public Procurement and Supplies Administration Act.

SOLO equipment is manufactured in Germany to CE certification standards, recognised internationally for durability and professional-grade reliability. A long service life means schools and municipalities do not face replacement purchases every two to three years — reducing the lifetime capital cost significantly and making the value-for-money case straightforward for auditors.

"Last year we did it the old way — assigned our cleaners to wipe every surface. It took four days and we still missed areas. Two weeks into term, eight more children were sick with HFMD. Parents were furious and some called me directly asking why we had let this happen again. This year, the municipality sent a team with the SOLO Port 423. They finished the entire school in half a day. I posted the video to the parent group. Within an hour I had over eighty thank-you messages. And most importantly — we're now four weeks into term with zero new HFMD cases. That tells me everything about the difference this machine makes."

— Prasit Jaidee, Principal, Wang Suan Luang Municipal School, Nakhon Ratchasima Province (fictional name for reference purposes)

A: Ministry of Public Health-approved formulations appropriate for child environments should be used — such as QAC (quaternary ammonium compound)-based disinfectants certified as child-safe. Disinfection should always be performed when no children are present in the facility. WHD can advise on appropriate chemical selection for each application.

A: This depends on the disinfectant used. Most ULV-applied disinfectants achieve full contact time and volatile dispersal within 30–60 minutes in a well-ventilated space. Opening windows and doors after that period allows residual chemical to clear before student access. WHD will specify re-entry intervals for each product recommended.

A: The SOLO Port 423 is straightforward to operate. WHD provides a one-day practical training session for government teams, a complete Thai-language user manual, and access to in-country service support. General staff can achieve operational competence within a few hours of hands-on practice.

A: Please contact WHD directly for an official quotation. As a guide, the SOLO Port 423 typically recovers its acquisition cost within one to two years through the elimination of external private spray contractor fees. After that point, it continues delivering value for many additional years at minimal operating cost.

A: The 2-stroke petrol engine operates at normal sound levels for a small-engine device — comparable to a portable generator or garden blower. We recommend operating during daytime hours and notifying the immediate community in advance when deploying at schools adjacent to residential areas.

A: For individual small centres, we recommend that the municipality or subdistrict administration acquire a shared unit managed by the public health division — used to service multiple child centres, school facilities, and public spaces across the entire jurisdiction in a single deployment rotation. This shared-resource model maximises value and simplifies budget justification.