Thai former PM Samak dies of cancer

BANGKOK. November 24. KAZINFORM Samak Sundaravej, the 25th prime minister of Thailand who had been disqualified from office in 2008 because of hosting a cooking show, died of liver cancer Tuesday morning in a Bangkok hospital, Thai media reported; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

Samak had been treated for cancer in Bamrungrat Hospital in Bangkok for about a year, Thai News Agency reported. He was sent into ICU on Monday due to deterioration of condition and passed away on Tuesday, at the age of 74.

According to the report, Samak's funeral will be held at Benjamaborpit Temple and a royally-sponsored bathing rite is set for Wednesday.

He was elected as Prime Minister in January 2008 after his party, the People Power Party, won the first general election since the military coup that ousted the former premier Thaksin Shinawatra in 2006.

Thaksin's brother-in-law, Samak had been accused since then by the anti-Thaksin group the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) as the proxy of Thaksin; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.

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