Acerbic, right-wing former Thai premier dies at 74

Veteran former Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is seen at the city hall in Udon Thani province, about 580 km (360 miles) east of Bangkok in this September 9, 2008 file photo. Sundaravej died on Tuesday after a battle with cancer, his aide and hospital officials said. He was 74.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Combative veteran former Thai prime minister Samak Sundaravej died on Tuesday after a battle with cancer, his aide and hospital officials said. He was 74.

The firebrand, right-wing politician led a coalition government for nine months from January 2008 after his party won general elections that followed a military coup in 2006.

He was a close ally of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in the coup and later convicted of graft and sentenced to two years in prison. Thaksin fled the country and leads an anti-government protest movement from self-imposed exile abroad.

Samak's appointment as Thailand's 25th prime minister led to months of anti-government street protests, including a siege of his office. Protesters said the elected prime minister was illegitimate because he was allied with Thaksin who was accused of corruption and abuse of power.

A stirring orator with a penchant for colourful language, Samak was forced out of office in September after a court ruled he had broken conflict-of-interest laws by accepting payment for hosting a television cooking show.

Before leading the country, Samak held several ministerial posts and was once governor of Bangkok.

He is best known 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.

Critics have said Samak's rhetoric on radio shows helped stir up anti-communist sentiment that prompted the fighting.

He restyled himself in the past decade as a celebrity chef and cat lover. He hosted a cooking show for seven years before he became premier, and made several appearances as a guest host while in office.

He said he joined the party of Thaksin's allies because he believed the ousted premier was treated unfairly by the military.

Thaksin, a billionaire politician, won two landslide elections and was in power from 2001-06 before public protests in Bangkok led to his ouster in a coup. He remains at the heart of a bitter political battle in Thailand. (Reporting by Ambika Ahujal. Editing by Jason Szep and Sanjeev Miglani)