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<div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>It is understandable that many people are literally obsessed about what will be the next political twist and turn.</div> </div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>They are concerned about whether caretaker prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and the Cabinet will today be removed by the Constitutional Court, whether there will an election, and what will happen to Thailand if there is yet another military coup following any further bloody confrontation between political supporters from both sides.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>It is not good enough, however, to be lost and obsessed about </div>

<div>Pravit Rojanaphruk on the new ultra-royalist vigilante group, "Organisation for the Removal of Trash of the Land".&nbsp;</div> <div> </div>

<div>Dear fellow Thai citizens,</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Are you fed up with and hopeless about politics yet?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I wouldn't be surprised if you feel despair and smell political hatred in the air.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Monday the group of six independent organisations gave both caretaker PM Yingluck Shinawatra and anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) leader Suthep Thaugsuban seven days to nominate 10 possible mediators to facilitate negotiations to end the prolonged political impasse. </div>

<p itemprop="description">On Sunday, when anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban delivered his post-election speech, he declared victory for voters who refused to exercise their right and also made allegations of electoral fraud. However, one thing was conspicuously missing in his speech. He made no mention whatsoever of the 8 million to 10 million voters who were robbed of their right to vote because of obstruction by PDRC supporters.</p>

<p itemprop="description">Did you take part in the fierce argument over whether five million of you folks or a mere 150,000 showed up at the anti-government rally on Monday? I thought it showed insecurity over whether you represent the real majority voice in Thailand.</p> <p itemprop="description"> </p>

<div>As both sides of the political divide escalate the mutual animosity, mostly shouting at one another instead of trying to be mutually empathetic, two issues need to be demystified.</div> <div> </div>

<div>IS "KNOWING BUDDHA" - a group of Thai Buddhists who are relentlessly tackling what they see as a disrespectful act against the image of Buddha - the new face of Thai Buddhism?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The year-old group has been battling manufacturers of all sorts of products around the world that exploit the image of the Buddha to make money. </div>

<div><span>Women seem to have become a casualty of the ongoing political strife that has been plaguing the Kingdom since the 2006 military coup, if not earlier. This became very clear when a number of female Pheu Thai MPs decided to hand sarongs over to opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva in protest against his alleged reference to Thailand's first female prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra as a "stupid bitch".</span></div> <p></p>

<div><span>The rehabilitation of the marine eco-system at Koh Samet - partly affected by the recent oil spill by PTT Global Chemical - is still on-going and will take months.</span></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>But there was never a chance of a boycott of PTT products by a large sector of the Thai population, even though they were appalled by the company's actions and handling of the incident. </div>

<div>AEC this, AEC that - not a week passes by without the media or society talking about what Thailand should do to prepare for the Asean Economic Community, which kicks off in 2015.</div> <div> </div>