Thailand's beleagured prime minister appeared in court today on charges that he violated the constitution by hosting a television cooking show while in office.

Samak Sundaravej will have to resign if found guilty by the Constitutional Court.

The trial compounds the problems of Mr Samak as anti-government demonstrators continue to occupy the grounds of his offices demanding his resignation, and news emerges that 8000 students are preparing to march on Government House to show their support for the protesters.

Before taking office seven months ago, Mr Samak had hosted the popular show 'Tasting and Complaining,' a mixture of cooking tips and his own rants on subjects of his choosing. He continued on the show for some time after becoming prime minister, which led to a group of senators petitioning the court on the grounds that an acting prime minister is not allowed to work with private companies.

Mr Samak told the court he was not paid a salary by a private media company to conduct the shows, "Tasting, Grumbling" and "Touring at 6 a.m.".

"I was hired, but not their employee," Mr Samak told the court in a televised hearing. He gave up hosting the shows in April, more than two months after he was sworn in as prime minister.

The hearing is the latest embarassment for Mr Samak who has been unable to enter Government House since thousands of protesters, from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), stormed the grounds on August 26. Although a state of emergency was declared last Tuesday after a man was shot dead and scores were injured, the protesters have refused to budge and the opposing sides have been caught in a stalemate.

The protest is part of a campaign by the PAD to oust Mr Samak, whom they accuse of being a stooge of Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister for six years before being deposed in 2006 following months of street protests by the alliance. Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon, recently fled to Britain to escape corruption charges.

Mr Samak has acknowleded that the state of emergency has failed to quell the protesters, after the chief of the army, Anupong Paochinda, said the army would make no moves to crack down on them.

"After declaring thThailand's beleagured prime minister appeared in court today on charges that he violated the constitution by hosting a television cooking show while in office.

Samak Sundaravej will have to resign if found guilty by the Constitutional Court. Teh trial compounds the problems of Mr Samak as anti-government demonstrators continue to occupy the grounds of his offices demanding his resignation, and news emerges that 8000 students are preparing to march on Government House to show their support for the protesters.

Before taking office seven months ago, Mr Samak had hosted the popular show 'Tasting and Complaining,' a mixture of cooking tips and his own rants on subjects of his choosing. He continued on the show for some time after becoming prime minister, which led to a group of senators petitioning the court on the grounds that an acting prime minister is not allowed to work with private companies.

The hearing is the latest embarassment for Mr Samak who has been unable to enter Government House since thousands of protesters, from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), stormed the grounds on August 26. Although a state of emergency was declared last Tuesday after a man was shot dead and scores were injured, the protesters have refused to budge and the opposing sides have been caught in a stalemate.

The protest is part of a campaign by the PAD to oust Mr Samak, whom they accuse of being a stooge of Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister for six years before being deposed in 2006 following months of street protests by the alliance. Thaksin, a former telecommunications tycoon, recently fled to Britain to escape corruption charges.

Mr Samak has acknowleded that the state of emergency has failed to quell the protesters, after the chief of the army, Anupong Paochinda, said the army would make no moves to crack down on them.

"After declaring the state of emergency, I thought everyone would be scared and disperse," he said. "But no one cares. They're ignoring the law. But I will not bow to them."

The PAD is a loose knit group made up of royalists, wealthy businessmen and grassroots activists who, despite the party's name want to restrict voting rights to remove the power of the rural poor, whose support helped bring Mr Taksin to power.

He was removed by a military coup - the 18th since since the country became a constitutional monarchy in 1932.

However on Sunday Mr Samak insisted that the military was not about to stage another coup and said he still planned to travel to New York to attend the UN General Assembly later this month.

"They (the military) know the international community will not tolerate another coup," he said in his weekly Sunday television broadcast.

He noted that the coup against Mr Thaksin also happened when the then premier was in New York at the U.N. headquarters, but insisted that history was not about to repeat itself.

"I will deliver my speech at the United Nations and I don't believe any unwanted incident will happen like when Thaksin went to speak there," he said.

The court will deliver its verdict tomorrow.

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