Samak Sundaravej, the plain-spoken former Thai prime minister who was removed from office last year for appearing in a television cooking programme, died on Tuesday aged 74.
He led the party that won the 2007 elections which ended a year of military installed rule, but had to step down after less than nine months in power when the constitutional court found that he had broken conflict of interest laws by accepting payment for appearing on Tasting and Grumbling, his long-running television show, while in office.
