World

Thai Prime Minister come celebrity chef

By team ⋅ March 27, 2008 ⋅  Email this post ⋅  Print this post ⋅ Post a comment

The Times, 29th January 2007

Celebrity chef Samak Sundaravej is not going to let a little thing like being prime minister of Thailand interfere with his passion for the kitchen. Moments after being sworn in, the combative politician vowed that his popular weekly show would return promptly to screens across the country.

‘Tasting, Grumbling’, a colourful extravaganza that blends traditional thai cuisine with ferocious political tirades, has been off the air for several weeks. The show, which has a devoted fan base among the lower-middle classes, was a belated victim of the coup. The army-appointed Government took ‘Tasting, Grumbling’ and its cantankerous presenter off screens soon after commandeering the television staton that broadcast it.

Mr Samak promised to revive the show, which has been on the air for seven years, making his first policy announcement after being elected by MPs earlier in the day. It was issued, fittingly, at the Or Kor Tor farmers’ market in Bangkok, where Mr Samak was making his weekly selection of prawns and spices.

‘The constitution does not restrict prime minister from talking about food. I think I’ll have a one-hour programme on Sundays. Even the Prime Minister of New Zealand can be a tour guide to promote the country’s tourism. I may host a similar tourism programme in the future’, said Mr Samak.

During a parliamentary debate yesterday, the food-obsessed leader briefly left the session and headed for the cafeteria. He commented, ‘If I have to encounter this every time I have my meal, it will be an unhappy life for me. See, there’s no boiled egg, no homeless and the curry is not hot. How will you feel if you are in this situation while having your meal?’

Mr Samak, 72, who made his name as a vitriolic anti-communist radio commentator in the 1970s, was elected Prime Minister by a coalition that came to power after elections last month after 16 months of military rule. He owes his new position and power base to Thaksin Shinawatra – the leader who was forced into exile by the coup but still commands passionate support throughout rural Thailand. On the campaign trail, Mr Samak did not disguise his status as Mr Thaksin’s man and the vehicle through which the exiled leader would continue to hold power. Mr Samak made it clear that he would push through his predecessor’s policies and stated that his mission was to being the former Prime Minister ‘back to the limelight’.