AP, Bangkok
Banharn Silpa-archa, a provincial political powerbroker who served a scandal-ridden 16 months as Thailand’s prime minister in 1995-96, has died at age 83.
His death early Saturday morning was announced by Bangkok’s Siriraj Hospital, where he was admitted Thursday after an asthma attack. Banharn was considered a master of pork barrel politics, making his home province of Suphanburi, in Thailand’s central rice-growing region, one of the country’s most developed and prosperous-looking.