BANGKOK - Former Thai prime minister Samak Sundaravej, who was forced from office in 2008 for appearing in television cooking shows, died of liver cancer Tuesday at the age of 74, associates said.

Samak led the People Power Party (PPP) to victory in elections in December 2007, the first since a military coup that ousted his ally, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, just over one year earlier.

"He died just before 9am (0200 GMT) in hospital. We still don't know his funeral plans," one close political associate said. An official at private Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok also confirmed his death.

Samak had been battling liver cancer for more than a year.

His time as prime minister was abruptly cut short in September 2008 when Thailand's top court ruled that he had breached rules by accepting payment for two television shows, in which he cooked and critiqued food.