BATMAN BANGKOK

No, that title is not the punchline to a joke about Bruce Wayne running through a turnstile, it's Thailand's latest super hero to the rescue. First Spider-Man saved the life of an autistic boy from the ledge of a building in Thailand, now it's Batman's turn to save some lives.

From scenes of torched buses and street riots in Bangkok, there emerges a reminder that Thailand is the most loveable place on the planet.

Meet Bangkok's Batman.

Last week, as anti-government protesters clad in crimson stormed the capital's streets, some guys hijacked a gas truck and parked it in an otherwise quiet neighborhood. They were pursued by soldiers and assumed (according to Thai media reports) that the military wouldn't fire into an area containing a massive container of liquid fuel.

Then, out of nowhere, Batman steps into the crowd and surveys the scene. So the story goes, the masked hero broke the tension long enough for a city worker to climb back in the truck and drive away. And those in the neighborhood gathered to applaud.

The newscaster gets in a dig at Batman for being a "little chubby." Call me old-fashioned, but that's no way to address a Thai superhero.

To read the rest of the story and learn the secret identity of Batman, click here. But don't tell the Joker!