One night in Bangkok...

...makes a hard man, uh, bigger?

In case you missed it, here's one of the stories of the year:

Thailand's prime minister is searching for the cabinet colleague who has had a silicone injection to enlarge his penis, according to reports yesterday.

Ahead of a parliamentary debate on an emergency powers decree passed by the government, Thaksin Shinawatra turned instead to a topic of fevered speculation in the country.

"Who did it? Tell me," Mr Thaksin was quoted as asking his ministers. "This has affected the reputation of the cabinet, because the news went round the world. I don't want people to think cabinet members are obsessed with this kind of thing."

According to the Nation newspaper no one present said anything, although a number of male cabinet ministers squirmed in their seats and looked down at the floor.

Mr Thaksin then suggested, tongue in cheek, that the public health minister make inquiries. "The next room is empty," he told him. "Can you use it to check the ministers right now?"

The question has arisen because a woman who claims a plastic surgeon disfigured her face with a silicone injection, and is in turn being sued by the clinic for defamation, asserts that a government minister has had a similar treatment to increase his manhood.

Absolutely hilarious.