SINGAPORE: A drunk man who unzipped his pants and urinated in an MRT train was jailed for a week and fined S$2,000 (US$1,500) on Tuesday (Mar 18).
In court, the prosecution described how Meksuwan Suwapit’s urine spread across the floor while the train moved, causing commuters to step on it.
Meksuwan, a 37-year-old Thai national, pleaded guilty to performing an obscene act in public and committing a public nuisance. He also admitted to a charge of appearing drunk in a public place, which was taken into consideration for his sentencing.
The court heard that on Jan 25 this year, Meksuwan, an inspection engineer, met some friends for drinks around Somerset.
He drank a bottle of red wine from around 4.30pm and boarded the train at Somerset MRT Station hours later to head home to Jurong East.
Slightly after 8pm, the drunk Meksuwan unzipped his pants and urinated in the train cabin. The train was travelling between Ang Mo Kio MRT station and Khatib MRT station at the time.
A commuter took a photo of Meksuwan in the act and later told police officers on patrol what happened.
“When some commuters saw the accused’s actions … they were annoyed, shocked and/or disgusted. They started moving away from the accused, to avoid the accused and the puddle of urine on the floor,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Teo Lu Jia.
“Some commuters did not notice the puddle of urine and ended up stepping on it. When the train was moving, the puddle of urine also spread further on the floor, causing a mess and annoyance to the commuters.”
The train was intercepted at Woodlands MRT Station and Meksuwan was taken to the first aid room of the station for investigations.
He was arrested that day and charged two days later.
As he was sentenced in court, Meksuwan, who was unrepresented, frequently brought his hands up in a prayer gesture to his face.
His case marks the latest in a spate of public urination incidents at transport nodes.
At least three men have been said to have urinated at MRT stations in January this year.
Two of them, who relieved themselves at Outram Park MRT station and Potong Pasir MRT Station, were each fined S$2,000.
Noting the recent cases, Ms Teo said the courts needed to send a signal that such conduct could not be condoned.
“There is a need to deter such obscene, unacceptable and anti-social conduct which are unfortunately prevalent. The National Environment Agency stated that an average of 600 people were fined each year for urinating or defecating in public from 2020 to 2024,” said Ms Teo.
Ms Teo sought a week’s jail for Meksuwan’s act of exposing himself on the train, which she said was brazen, and the maximum S$2,000 fine for the charge of public nuisance.
Agreeing with the prosecution, District Judge Salina Ishak noted that Meksuwan’s private parts were clearly visible during the incident and his conduct caused annoyance and disgust to commuters in a relatively crowded train.
She imposed the sentence proposed by the prosecution.
For committing an obscene act, Meksuwan could have been jailed up to three months, fined, or both.
For the offence of public nuisance, he could have been jailed up to S$2,000.
For being drunk in public and causing annoyance, he could have been jailed up to six months, fined up to S$1,000, or both.
