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Former Thai PM Sundaravej dies
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-25 07:56 BANGKOK: Samak Sundaravej, a firebrand right-wing politician and TV cooking show host who briefly served as Thailand's prime minister and considered himself a proxy of ousted leader Thaksin Shinawatra, died after a long battle with liver cancer yesterday. He was 74. Samak had sought treatment for the cancer late last year in the United States and kept a low-profile after returning to Thailand.
Straight talk Known as a straight-talker with a penchant for the profane, Samak's political career spanned four decades including an incarnation as an anti-leftist rabble rouser, but many supporters remembered him best for his TV show called Tasting and Complaining, a mix of traditional Thai cooking and rants on pet subjects. Before leading the country, Samak held several ministerial posts and was once governor of Bangkok. He is best-known politically as a denouncer of left-wing student activists in the 1970s, though he repeatedly denied any role in the slaughter of student protesters on Oct 6, 1976, when a clash with security forces killed at least 46 people and wounded hundreds. Some were lynched, beaten to death or shot dead. Among the first Thai politicians to express their condolences was former prime minister Thaksin, who was forced out in a 2006 coup and tweeted about Samak's death from self-imposed exile. Thaksin also expressed regret that he could not return to the country to attend the funeral. It was ultimately Samak's TV work that ended his political career, which peaked in December 2007 when he became the country's 25th prime minister - a job that lasted only nine months. Samak's tenure as prime minister coincided with one of the worst political crises in Thailand's history and followed the September 2006 coup that ousted Thaksin. Samak rose to power as the self-proclaimed proxy for Thaksin, who was living in exile. Samak became the focus of street rallies by anti-Thaksin protesters who demanded his resignation. Tens of thousands of protesters stormed the prime minister's compound in August 2008, but it wasn't the protesters who led to his ouster. TV show his downfall A court ruled in September 2008 that Samak's appearance on his TV cooking show while prime minister - and the fact that he had accepted money for doing it - constituted a conflict of interest. The hasty decision prompted speculation that the court ruled to curtail protests and end Samak's divisive tenure, amid fears of another coup. Known for hurling epithets at his critics, Samak made one of his most infamous comments while prime minister. When a female Thai reporter inquired about rumors of infighting within his party, he snapped back: "Did you have sinful sex last night?" His colorful vocabulary earned him the nickname "Dog Mouth" among critics. Bangkok-born and of Chinese descent, Samak began his political career in 1968 when he joined the Democrat Party. With Bangkok as his power base, he went on to hold eight Cabinet posts and served more than 20 years as a member of parliament. AP-Reuters (China Daily 11/25/2009 page11) |
