A 13-year-old American boy's Instagram challenge sent Muay Thai boxing viral and set a record for likes on a comment on the platform after he promised to follow the advice of the most liked comment on his post, according to Korn Chatikavanij.
Harrington: Starts GoFundMe bid
Mr Korn, who is a former finance minister, wrote about the phenomenon unleashed by Instagram user "reed_harrington23"'s short video clip.
"Okay. When I hit 200,000 followers, I do whatever the top comment said on the video and post it," the teenager said in the video posted on Sept 29. Reed Harrington is a seventh-grade student in the US, and the clip received 1.5 million likes and more than 45,500 comments, including an offer to purchase a ticket for him to fly to Thailand. Another suggested he train to fight in Thailand, while others included an offer to be his personal photographer, and a documentary maker wanted to film his trip to Thailand.
In the end, the top comment came from user fiven9nekid:
"Fly to small town in Thailand, get accepted by their people, learn the language, train Muay Thai for a year and half, fight in a tournament, win the tournament, return to the USA and join the UFC, stay in shape & go undefeated in your weight class, retire and do an interview saying this comment was the reason you fought so hard."
The comment received about 2.57 million likes and broke the likes record for a comment on Instagram. The boy now has more than 329,000 followers.
True to his word, Harrington has now begun a GoFundMe campaign to meet the challenge. At press time, "A trip to Thailand for me and my dad" had received more than US$7,200 from 587 donations. His target is US$15,000.
Some donors supported his mission by saying: "Keep on going. Keep on growing. You are an inspiration. Never give up and chase your dreams. Do what you like and always do good. Make this world a better place. You are the future."
Another comment said: "Thailand will be a great experience for you lil bro. Being immersed in a new culture and training Muay Thai will teach you not just a beautiful martial art but more about yourself as well. Keep running that mile every day! The consistency pays dividends and is what builds champions."
In his own post, Mr Korn concluded that: "We should be prepared to welcome him. This pleasant matter shows that Thailand is unique, charming and exotic in the eyes of the international community. This viral stuff is public relations for the country that does not cost any money."
