As the two main parties are struggling to find candidates to field in the Bangkok governor election in January, the prospect of swing voters opting for a no-vote is becoming real.
A Bangkok Metropolitan Administration worker shows one of the sandbags dumped into the drainage system on Srinakarin Road, which has become a hot political football.
The possibility of no-votes making inroads into the poll cannot be written off. And it boils down to the same reason why voters decide they would rather cast an empty ballot than vote for a candidate: they are getting fed up with political games politicians are playing at their expense.
The ruling Pheu Thai Party and the Democrat Party, which runs City Hall, have been at each other's throats trying to augment their popularity in the lead-up to the Bangkok governor race, say many observers who feel the two parties are digging into every corner to attain their political ends.
The latest clash between the two parties was over flood management in Bangkok. Watery matters touch a chord with city residents, many of whom were ''marinated'' in last year's floods for months.
The suffering was barely one year ago, and any party offering a potential candidate who is seen as capable of keeping the floods at bay is on course to reaping the votes, the observers say.
However, residents are being deafened by allegations flying all around them, with Pheu Thai accusing the BMA of deliberately flooding the city streets and shifting the blame onto the government.
Sandbags were retrieved from a drainage system and the ruling party fingered the BMA for allegedly putting them there.
The BMA was quick to counter the accusation, saying the bags were placed over holes in the drainage pipes to keep excess water already siphoned out from leaking back into the system.
The Democrats are crying foul, insisting the mudslinging exercise marks an early start to what some political pundits feel will be an intense and bitter pre-election, limelight-stealing campaign.
The main opposition party says it is being smeared by elements bent on destroying its popularity in the capital.
Despite the intense wrestling for voter support, the two parties do not seem to be anywhere near to having candidates to speak of.
The only definite candidate for the election to date is Pol Gen Seripisuth Temeeyavej. But since his high-profile press conference to herald his candidacy a month ago, voters have not yet heard or seen very much of the former police chief.
At Pheu Thai headquarters all is quiet, although earlier speculation buzzed that former Thai Rak Thai Party deputy leader Khunying Sudarat Keyuraphan is believed to have the backing of the party's Bangkok faction for the poll.
Of late, the list of Pheu Thai's prospective candidates has been extended to include the secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, Pol Gen Pongsapat Pongcharoen, and even city police chief Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit Thoopkrachang. Pol Gen Pongsapat has since brushed aside any ambition to lead the BMA.
Over at the Democrats' home, there has been no clear indication of who will make the cut for the party's candidate. Incumbent governor MR Sukhumbhand Paribatra has gone public with his announcement that he was ready for the challenge although the party has kept mum over whether it will let him seek a second term in office.
A source in the party, however, said luck may not be on MR Sukhumband's side as party insiders are lobbying for him to step aside and allow Korn Chatikavanij, the former finance minister, to take up the running for the coveted governor's seat.
Mr Korn, still young when measured against the standard of Thai politicians, could fit the party's bill of making Bangkok a vibrant and lively place to live and work.
Phitak not yet ready to return
The flamboyant Phitak Intarawitthayanant has kept many guessing whether he still has the fire and is ready to make a political comeback.
The former deputy premier in the Thaksin Shinawatra administration has been nudged by fellow politicians to seriously consider returning to active politics after many years of absence from the political scene.
Phitak: Politics is too flawed
Mr Phitak was not among the 111 former Thai Rak Thai Party executives who faced a five-year political ban, which ended in May.
He has been keeping busy running the Phitak Rak Pandin Foundation his family founded and a golf course in Ayutthaya.
As Mr Phitak took his diversion away from politics, close aides and friends have been wondering if and when he plans to return to the fold.
As the Bangkok governor election is marked for early January, Mr Phitak's close circles reckon it might be time for him to jump into the political water again.
However, the former Thai Rak Thai minister has dismissed the suggestion that he seize the chance to return to politics and contest the governor race.
Mr Phitak, according to a source close to him, feels he is better off playing a supporting role. He feels more comfortable finding an independent candidate to contest the poll.
His choice of a candidate is someone in his early 50s who possesses strong leadership and is devoted and visionary.
The person must also be in command of firm knowledge and experience to steer City Hall effectively, especially on such matters as Bangkok's notorious traffic.
Mr Phitak remembers when he was deputy premier that he introduced the demerit points system that serves to penalise as well as deter reckless drivers.
In Mr Phitak's view, if the next governor is relatively young with exceptional management skills and can stay on to complete a four-year term with an accomplished performance, the post will provide an ideal stepping stone for a seat in national administration.
But finding the right choice is no easy task. Mr Phitak feels Thai politics is beset by a myriad of deep-seated flaws that has held back its progress.
The system has repelled potential newcomers from stepping in and competing for high office.
New police chief starts off badly
Compensation payouts can be a prickly issue, something the newly sworn-in police chief will have to handle with utmost caution and sensitivity.
Pol Gen Adul Saengsingkaew has instructed the police force's lawyers to appeal the Central Administrative Court's order for the government to compensate those injured in the 2008 crackdown against yellow-shirt protesters outside Government House.
The 32-million-baht payout is to be jointly borne by the Royal Thai Police Office and the PM's Office.
Adul: Target of criticism
Pol Gen Adul came under heavy fire from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) for his decision to appeal the compensation ruling.
The PAD and many observers maintain the two agencies could easily afford the payout and they see no conceivable reason why the police would want to appeal.
But legal experts said the appeal was almost a formality. It was a way for the police chief to stick to his guns to protest his innocence.
The dispersal of protesters on Oct 7, 2008 has and will likely remain an unhealed wound in the memory of the PAD.
A total of 261 demonstrators, most of whom were yellow-shirt supporters, were injured, and one was killed, when police moved in to break up the protest.
The protesters were attempting to block Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat from delivering his policy statement to parliament.
The Central Administrative Court ruled that compensation for the yellow-shirt protesters was warranted given the current government's resolution on Jan 10 this year to compensate victims of the deadly military crackdown against red-shirt protesters in 2010.
The maximum compensation rate for a protester killed during the rallies is 7.5 million baht.
During the 2008 crackdown, police were accused of using substandard tear gas canisters, which the PAD insists caused injuries to some protesters.
The PAD said the police must be held culpable for the Oct 7 bloodshed.
Pol Gen Adul is viewed by some government critics as being too closely aligned with the former police chief, Justice Minister Pracha Promnok, and ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
Political sources say that although Pol Gen Adul has been widely acknowledged for his unblemished track record, the fact that he rose to the pinnacle of his police career under the current government has led to him being identified as one of the government's proteges.
Critics say the police general should be careful not to endanger his reputation and maintain his ability to remain neutral.
By taking the payout ruling to the higher court, the national police chief could make himself the target of criticism in that he has chosen to come down on the side of police interests rather than humanity.