THAILAND DROPS IN PRESS FREEDOM INDEX

The annual World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters sans Frontieres and published today, has seen Thailand drop six places from its 2008 ranking. The Kingdom now stands in 130th place - behind the likes of Colombia, Venezuela, the Philippines and neighbouring Cambodia.
The report says: "In Thailand, the endless clashes between 'yellow shirts' and 'red shirts' had a very negative impact on the press’s ability to work."
Thailand's ranking has yo-yo'd in recent years - 2008 (124th), 2007 (135th), 2006 (122nd), 2005 (107th), 2004 (59th), 2003 (82nd) and 2002 (65th) - but the situation according to this benchmark is clearly worsening.