Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra

Samak Sundaravej, a firebrand politician who briefly served as Thailand's prime minister but was ousted for simultaneously getting income as host of a popular TV cooking show, died of cancer Tuesday. He was 74. Samak died at Bumrungrad International Hospital in Bangkok after a long battle against liver cancer, hospital official Navachamol Sangkaew said. Samak had sought treatment for the cancer late last year in the United States and kept a low-profile after returning to Thailand. Known as a straight-talker with a penchant for the profane, Samak's political career spanned four decades but many supporters remembered him best for his TV show called "Tasting ... Read Full Story

Cambodia has turned down a request from Thailand to arrest former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who last year was sentenced in absentia by a Thai court to two years imprisonment for violating a conflict of interest law. A statement from Cambodia's Foreign Affairs Ministry on Wednesday said the request to detain Thaksin for extradition would not be honored because the legal case against him was politically motivated, and therefore not covered by the countries' extradition treaty. Thaksin lives in self-imposed exile. He is visiting Cambodia to give a lecture after his appointment last week as an adviser on economic affairs to the Phnom Penh ... Read Full Story

With Thaksin’s recent interview with the Times released this week it has all suddenly taken on the air of a Harry Potter book with everyone exclaiming the words ” He who must not be named” and ” The interview that must not be named”. The Thai government in all of it’s archaic grandeur have proclaimed that this interview with he who shall not be named shall also not be published or spoken about online. I originally considered Thai politicians to be the same type of highly trained hypocritical monkeys that can be found in any western country. Basically, not concerned with more than what ... Read Full Story

With Thaksin’s recent interview with the Times released this week it has all suddenly taken on the air of a Harry Potter book with everyone exclaiming the words ” He who must not be named” and ” The interview that must not be named”. The Thai government in all of it’s archaic grandeur have proclaimed that this interview with he who shall not be named shall also not be published or spoken about online. I originally considered Thai politicians to be the same type of highly trained hypocritical monkeys that can be found in any western country. Basically, not concerned with more than what ... Read Full Story

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Cambodia expelled the Thai embassy's first secretary and Thailand reciprocated in their worsening row relating to a former Thai prime minister. In announcing the expulsion of the Thai diplomat, a Cambodian Foreign Ministry spokesman gave no specific reason for the decision, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Immediately thereafter, the Thai Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of a Cambodian diplomat of similar rank, the Bangkok Nation reported. Relations between the two neighbors have become strained since last week's announcement by the Cambodian government that former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had been appointed its economic adviser. The ... Read Full Story