Date:06/04/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/06/stories/2008040657102200.htm

International

A taste of poverty for the rich

BANGKOK: A Bangkok luxury hotel treated its top clientele to a tour of a poverty-stricken Thai village on Saturday before dazzling them with a lavish feast, for $25,000 a head, ignoring outrage over the event that prompted a boycott by elite chefs around the world.

Controversy has surrounded the event, which critics characterise as a tasteless publicity stunt and organisers call a novel approach to helping the needy. — AP