Latest rankings for press freedom leave Thailand and all other Asean countries with nothing to shout about.

The annual Press Freedom Index for 2009, released earlier this month by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), makes for disturbing reading for the Asean region. People in Southeast Asia must ask if we're sacrificing long-term democracy and freedom for short-term security and stability.

Aside from a glimmer of hope in Indonesia, ranked at 100 out of 175 nations, the rest of the Asean region increasingly resembles a big rotten basket full of repressive regimes and opponents of press freedom.

Burma, ruled by a notorious military junta, ranked near the bottom, at 171 out of 175, in this latest worldwide index. The country is described by RSF as: "[A] paradise for censors, one of the very few countries where all publications are subjected to prior censorship. After China and Cuba, it is the world's largest prison for journalists and bloggers."

Thirteen journalists and cyber dissidents are currently imprisoned.

Vietnam, ranked at 166 out of 175, is only relatively better: "Aside from underground dissidents and online publications, Vietnam has no independent media. The written press, television and radio are all under the control of Hanoi."

Despite an acknowledgement that some efforts are being made to roll back censorship there, RSF noted that a dozen journalists and cyber dissidents are in jail.

Laos, ranked at 169, is described as being in a "very serious" situation, with one journalist and two media assistants detained.

The Philippines, though still more respectable at 122, and once a bastion of press freedom, has also succumbed. With two journalists killed in the past 12 months, RSF noted: "Media are free but subject to levels of violence that nothing and nobody seems able or willing to stop ... Mindanao Island is currently one of the world's most dangerous regions for journalists."

Thailand, at number 130, has regretfully joined the ranks of Singapore (133) and Malaysia (131), which are traditionally known for their control of the press.

The Kingdom was ranked at number 66 only seven years ago. It has fallen so spectacularly because of the curbing of press freedom by ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his supporters, then by the military junta which ousted Thaksin, and now by the Democrat-led government of Abhisit Vejjajiva, which cracked down mightily on the so-called "red" media in the aftermath of the April riots this year.

Then there is the lese majeste law, used with increased frequency as His Majesty advances in age. As RSF notes: "The Thai media has been buffeted by repeated political crises. Several journalists have been assaulted by demonstrators, and scores of media have been censored for openly supporting the "red shirts".

But it has been the crackdown on Internet users and intellectuals - for alleged crimes of lese-majeste - that poses the greatest threat to free expression in the country: "Most Thai journalists voice the same reverence for King Bhumibol as the vast majority of the population. The others are forced into self-censorship."

Indeed, the Index might do well to rethink the direction Thailand and most of Asean is heading, especially when we can't fall much lower than this.