(Image source: Al Jazeera)

BY UNA LUE

Indonesia is having trouble with people lying on train tracks.

They’re not trainspotting -- they say they’re -- “undergoing therapy.”  Here’s NBC’s Today Show.

“The highly unusually and potentially deadly form of therapy is taking the country by storm. People lie on train tracks waiting arrival train electricities. They believe the “electric therapy” and that's what it’s called can help cure various diseases.“

Locals tell London’s Telegraph -- rail therapy is effective in treating -- among other things --  gout, rheumatism, hypertension, high cholesterol, and obesity.

Where’d they get -- that -- idea?

From a well-travelled tale -- and BBC has it.

“The therapy inspired by several Chinese men who went to the track to commit a suicide but instead lying on the train track cured him."

That story was told -- and retold, leading more people to the track seeking miracles. Al Jazeera reports most cannot afford health care -- or feel traditional medicine just isn't working.

Local: “I feel very good now. Before I could only walk with a stick. Now I can walk by myself. ”

Reporter: “Poor people in Indonesia are entitled to free medical care but it’s hard for many to fulfill the tough requirements."

The state-run railroad company tells The Jakarta Globe, staff members are exhausted from persuading people off the tracks.

“Every day we have two to three officers on standby near the railways and explain the risks the locals face…We have also told them repeatedly that what they do is against the law.  We are very concerned that they may not see or hear a train coming because they are relaxed and chatting away on the railways,” 

No one has been arrested yet, and none of the participants have died.  

A writer for Gizmodo says -- hey, it could be worse.

“Railroad shock therapy may sound extreme, but it sure beats eating dung from sacred cows, another form of pseudo-medical treatment popular in Asia.”