The State Railway of Thailand will summon popular expat YouTuber My Mate Nate and his staff, after they flattened coins on a train track for a YouTube video, which has drawn heavy criticism for the possible danger it may have caused.
So, controversial American vlogger Nate Bartling has landed himself in another internet drama. After making fun of Thai people’s English level, letting his two cats fight a scorpion for a YouTube video, and freezing a fish with chemicals before thawing it and watching it flop around, Bartling decided to conduct a scientific experiment—testing the strength of coins from different countries by taping them to a train track to let the trains run them over.
Many commenters, including one popular Facebook page “Thai Train Story,” voiced that the coins could have derailed the train.
“Nate, I’d like you to know that putting metal objects or rocks on the tracks for a train to run over can derail that train. Although it may not happen instantly, the train’s wheel could be damaged,” wrote the anonymous admin of Thai Train Story in Thai, which Bartling can read.
Tanongsak Pongprasert, deputy governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said he will summon Bartling and his team for questioning. The expat will be asked to explain why he did it and warned not to repeat his actions.
Tanongsak added that Bartling’s actions were “inappropriate,” and he could have faced a criminal charge and a lawsuit for compensation if the train had derailed, Prachachart reported.
According to Article 230 of the Criminal Code, anyone who obstructs railways with objects in a manner which can cause danger to the operation of trains could face up to seven years in prison and a fine of THB14,000.
In response to the criticism, Bartling removed the video, he also posted on Facebook that he had done research before the shooting of the video and that coins cannot derail trains because their materials are weaker than the train’s wheels and train tracks, which he may be right.
According to Live Science, “To affect a train in such a way would require something larger and more massive than a penny—something on the scale of a cow or a car.”
Late afternoon today, Bartling updated that he would stop uploading video for a while, because he’s being summoned by Thai Railway.
Please take a long, long hiatus.
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