SINGAPORE – A Singapore district court sentenced a 35-year-old Thai food stall worker to 11 weeks in jail after she stabbed a colleague with kitchen scissors during a shift at Changi Airport. Changsuwan Titirat pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon following the violent kitchen clash at Terminal 3.
The May 2, 2025 altercation erupted inside the transit area’s Singapore Food Street after weeks of simmering workplace friction between Changsuwan and her 53-year-old co-worker, Charoensuk Krittya. Police arrested Changsuwan the same night, while Charoensuk remains before the courts on separate charges of criminal intimidation and voluntarily causing grievous hurt.
Key Takeaways
- Changsuwan Titirat, 35, received an 11-week prison term after pleading guilty to stabbing a co-worker twice in the arm with scissors at Changi Airport Terminal 3.
- The confrontation began with a push that fractured Changsuwan’s seventh left rib against a metal stool before escalating with a thrown soup ladle and scissors.
- Co-worker Charoensuk Krittya, 53, faces pending charges for allegedly causing grievous hurt and threatening to break Changsuwan’s nose with a ladle.
Kitchen Dispute Escalates Inside Transit Hub
Tensions between the two women had built up for nearly a month over a workplace misunderstanding, according to court documents cited by Mothership. At about 9:05 p.m., a verbal argument flared inside the stall’s kitchen. Charoensuk shoved Changsuwan, sending the younger worker crashing against a metal stool and fracturing her seventh left rib.
Another staff member stepped in to separate the pair, briefly halting the brawl. Minutes later, Charoensuk returned from an outer cooking station and hurled a ladle at Changsuwan. Holding a pair of scissors she had been using to prep food, Changsuwan lunged forward and stabbed Charoensuk twice in the left arm, stopping only when the older woman backed away.
Paramedics transported Charoensuk to Changi General Hospital, where doctors treated a deep arm laceration and issued three days of medical leave. The food court manager immediately alerted airport police, who took Changsuwan into custody that night before releasing her on bail the next day.
High-Pressure Shifts and Strict Airport Policing
Transit-zone kitchens at Changi Airport operate under relentless commercial pressure. Serving round-the-clock international flight waves, food court crews work in cramped, hot spaces where sharp utensils and heavy cookware sit within arm’s reach, turning minor interpersonal friction into immediate physical hazards when disputes go unmediated.
Singapore’s judiciary also treats violence inside critical aviation infrastructure with zero tolerance, regardless of whether offenders are travelers or frontline staff. As reported by Goody Feed, prosecutors pursued dangerous-weapon charges despite the mutual provocation.
In a separate Terminal 3 case, Singapore courts handed down jail sentences to a mother and son after an airport altercation escalated into an assault on a bystander and a responding officer.
For migrant food-and-beverage workers in Singapore, criminal convictions carry consequences far beyond prison walls. Under Ministry of Manpower regulations, custodial sentences trigger work pass revocations and permanent employment bars, leaving both women’s livelihoods hanging in the balance as Charoensuk awaits her next court hearing.
