Little Freedom of the Press in Thailand?

[WannaGo]

Reporters without Borders has released its annual press freedom index for 2009, ranking Thailand No. 130 out of175 ranked countries. According to the group, Thailand fell several positions because "the endless clashes between 'yellow shirts' and 'redshirts' had a very negative impact on the press’s ability to work."

Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, Vietnam, China, Laos, Burma and North Korea all ranked below Thailand.

This is from the group's website:

To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders prepared a questionnaire with 40 criteria that assess the state of press freedom in each country.

It includes every kind of violation directly affecting journalists (such as murders, imprisonment, physical attacks and threats) and news media (censorship, confiscation of newspaper issues, searches and harassment). Ãnd it includes the degree of impunity enjoyed by those responsible for these press freedom violations. It also measures the level of self-censorship in each country and the ability of the media to investigate and criticise. Financial pressure, which is increasingly common, is also assessed and incorporated into the final score.

The questionnaire takes account of the legal framework for the media (including penalties for press offences, the existence of a state monopoly for certain kinds of media and how the media are regulated) and the level of independence of the public media. It also reflects violations of the free flow of information on the Internet. Reporters Without Borders has taken account not only of abuses attributable to the state, but also those by armed militias, clandestine organisations and pressure groups.

Go here to see the index.