Be nice and let me go first

And it turned out to be as addictive as the doughnuts. The opening of a second Krispy Kreme outlet last week had another contingent camped out (not a mob this time, at least), and we've had super-fans lined up super-long for tickets to see comedian Udom "Nose" Taepanich and rock band X-Japan.

Then on Tuesday at 3am there were 100 insomniacs loitering outside Paragon for TrueH's buy-one-get-one-free deal on the iPhone4. That's exactly how many phones were going on sale at a more reasonable hour later in the day. Not sure if the crowd got bigger in the interim hours.

Well, as much as the products create queues, the queues promote products. No one's been hurt so far - "queue rage" remains a rarity here. And a lucrative trade is developing in surrogate queuing.

But you still have to wonder about modern life, when people spend the night in public just for the privilege of being first in line. It just seems a bit "pushy", you know?

Darling Dad

Among the red-shirt leaders, Kokaew Pikulthong is sort of "red lite" - soft-spoken and polite despite his political toughness.

The new Pheu Thai MP is certainly a sweetie at home. You might recall that Kokaew's daughter Mook turned one year old while he was out there in the middle of the ratchaprasong mayhem in 2010, but thankfully things are a little more peaceful now.

He and his wife delight friends and acquaintances with the way they call each other "darling", in English. They do it so often, in fact, that Mook, now two, seems to think that's their name. Instead of Mummy and Daddy, she calls both of them Darling!