American YouTuber critisised for hiring 50 Thai police to play game with him

Thai netizens criticised an American YouTuber, Nathan Bartling, popularly known among Thai people as My Mate Nate, after he hired 50 Thai police officers to participate in a game featured in one of his new videos.

On June 17, Bartling, shared a video of a hide-and-seek game between his team and Thai police officers on his Facebook page and Youtube Channel. In the video, Bartling, shouted…

“I hired 50 police officers to hunt for me and my team members in the abandoned shopping mall!”

After he finished his introduction, Bartling explain the rules of the game. His team had a mere 10 minutes to find hiding spots throughout the entire building while the police officers had one hour to search for them.

Each of Bartling’s team members hid in different ways. One member disguised himself as a bush, one buried himself underground, one wore an authority’s uniform, and another one hid in the wooden box. Bartling chose to hide on the rooftop.

At the end of the game, the police managed to find only three members out of seven. Bartling invited the officers to join his game again, this time with 100 officers and police dogs. However, the release of the next episode of the series remains uncertain due to the criticism received from Thai netizens.

Some asked whether the police joined the game during their duty or not. Others argued that the officers should remain at their police stations, available for any emergency situations. Many condemned Bartling and the police for their recklessness.

However, many netizens believed the game provided valuable training for the officers. They said it was like training for the officers. The candidate for Prime Minister from the Thai Sang Thai Party, Sita Divari, also agreed that this game played like training for police. Sita stated…

“I spent 22.22 minutes watching this! I even cancelled all the phone calls for this. It is very exciting like watching a live video. I had a lot of fun. I consider this game as training for the police. I like how each officer played the game. It changes their images and makes them look more friendly and approachable. It is good! I do not think it was a waste of their time. It gave a lot of benefits!”

The Commissioner of the Royal Thai Police (RTP), Damrongsak Kittipraphat, announced that both Bartling and the police officers involved in the video would face legal consequences if they failed to obtain permission to produce the video.

Damrongsk explained that an investigation would be conducted to verify the identities of the participants, determining whether they were indeed genuine police officers. He revealed that some of the individuals involved had been confirmed as legitimate officers.

According to the commissioner, any production company or department seeking to feature Thai police officers in their media must submit the plot, plan, dialogue, and other details to the RTP at least five days prior to commencement.

Moreover, someone impersonating police officers, despite not holding such a position, would face a penalty of imprisonment of up to one year, a fine of up to 2,000 baht, or both.

Prior to this drama, Bartling is also criticised for producing video content that imitates the famous American YouTuber, MrBeast, or James Stephen Donaldson.