IT MUST BE BAD ..

.. when a globally respected and influential newspaper such as The New York Times chose to give prominence to Thursday night's clashes in central Bangkok on its front page yesterday.
Although Thailand's troubles have been mentioned on the cover as 'briefs' several times in recent months, even during the Songkran clashes of 2008 Thailand didn't receive this much front page exposure.
Elsewhere yesterday, newspapers throughout the region, and as far afield as Canada and Norway, featured graphic images on their front page from the clashes on Silom.