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Candidate for Bangkok governor Apirak Kosayodhin has sometimes been commended for his shrewd strategies.

In his first term, he inspired the "Bangkok" campaign to make the Thai capital as great as other metropolises such as New York and London. The launch was mesmeris-ing, though months later reminding us of the campaign were only signs along the BTS lines and on some concrete columns in the city.

Apirak also hoped to be known as a green governor, who was very active in promoting a green environment in the city.

Now, in this election, he is resorting to the famous networking website Hi-5 to reach out to teen voters.

Given the creative campaigns of the former marketing executive, it's not surprising that Chuwit Kamolvisit considers him the only competitor in the election.

Yeah, who could add as much colour to an election as Apirak and Chuwit?

Recently I came across an interesting report.

Written by Associated Press from Pittsburgh, it was about the tickets issued to law violators. The report said city police wrote nearly 200 disorderly-conduct citations over a 32-month period for swearing, obscene gestures and other acts deemed disrespectful.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) found 188 such citations between March 1, 2005 and October 31, 2007. The report talked about a woman who was "swearing profanities to a companion in front of the Girl Scouts", and a man who "engaged in loud noise, racial slurs and pig remarks".

"Nobody likes to get sworn at, but you can't make it a crime," Witold Walczak, legal director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The ACLU cited lack of police training as the reason for the huge volume of police actions.

Hmm, here in Bangkok, getting sworn at or about has become the norm, as a result of the permanent gathering of anti-government protesters and the counter-gathering of their opposition. Each has its own permanent stage where speakers take turns to give speeches, which contain little more than accusations against their targets.

Thanks to ASTV, I have heard so many offensive words recently, like ai hok hak and ai wain talai (a***hole), sat narok (bastard), and ai na daan (shameless).

All these words have been in use for so long and when used among friends, they show a strong bond between the people.

However, they could be more than profanity if used against the people we don't like.

Perhaps the Pittsburgh city police would be more than busy if they moved to Bangkok these days. The police bureau would need to print a new batch of ticket books.