BANGKOK,Thailand- Transparency International on Thursday released the 2011 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) in which Thailand is ranked 80th among 183 countries worldwide, two steps behind last year's 78th.  

According to the latest released index, Thailand received 3.4 points on scale of 0-10, Transparency Thailand Secretary-General Juree Vichit-Vadakan said. Ten points mean a country has a low corruption level, while zero equates to a high level of corruption.

Apart from its global position, Thailand was ranked 10th among 26 Asian countries, with Singapore getting the highest transparency score at 9.2 out of a possible 10.

New Zealand achieved 9.5 points and ranked first as the least corrupt globally, followed by Denmark and Finland at 9.4 points.

CPI is a composite index, a combination of polls, drawing on corruption-related data from experts and business surveys carried out by a variety of reputable independent institutions.

Juree said that awareness of corruption in Thailand is growing, and that many sectors have taken part in battling the problem.