American Nathan Bartling, from Chino Hills, Calif., talks to reporters in Bangkok after he apologized for placing coins on a railroad track for a YouTube video (AP)
BANGKOK – An American expat in Thailand who is a YouTube star with 3.29 million subscribers is in hot water for posting a video of an age-old practice among kids: flattening coins on railroad tracks.
Nathan Bartling, whose YouTube series is called "My Mate Nate," was detained by police after a news conference with railway officials Monday in which he said he would try to make amends by promoting the state railway.
The 23-year-old had already taken down the video after an online hubbub claiming he risked derailing a train.
Police charged him with railway obstruction, trespassing and damaging railway property. The myth-busting website snopes.com and popular science blogs agree that a coin won't derail a train.
Bartling is from Chino Hills, California, according to his Facebook profile.
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