Thais hunt for suspected mastermind in killing of Cambodian critic

BANGKOK - Thai police said on Wednesday they are hunting for the suspected mastermind of the killing in Bangkok last week of a prominent critic of the Cambodian government.

Lim Kimya, 74, a former member of parliament for the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, or CNRP, was gunned down in Bangkok on Jan. 7. The suspected gunman, Aekaluck Paenoi, a former Thai Marine, was arrested the day after in Cambodia’s Battambang province and was extradited to Thailand on Jan. 11.

The killing has raised new alarm about Thailand’s autocratic neighbors pursuing critics on Thai soil.

Thai police said the suspected mastermind traveled on a Cambodian passport in the name of Ly Ratanakrasmey, while also using the Thai alias Somwang Bamrungkit, and he was suspected of setting up and paying for the murder.

“We have received approval from the Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for Somwang, 43, who we believe orchestrated and financed the assassination,” Police Major Gen. Atthaphon Wongsiriprida told reporters in Bangkok.

“Evidence shows money transfers to the shooter, and Aekaluck has provided valuable testimony, stating that Somwang harbored a grudge against the victim and asked him to ‘handle it’,” Atthaphon said.

Atthaphon said the suspect, Somwang, entered Thailand on Jan. 6 and left over a border crossing into Cambodia the day after the assassination.

“Over the past two years, he has crossed the Thai border more than 100 times, suggesting some regular activity. He left on January 8, and we’re now in the process of requesting an Interpol red notice,” Atthaphon said.

An Interpol red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide that a person accused of a serious crime be located and detained.

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Thai police earlier identified and issued an arrest warrant for another Cambodian, who they identified as Pich Kimsrin, and said was suspected of acting as a “spotter” for the gunman.

Media outlets released CCTV footage showing Pich Kimsrin shadowing Lim Kimya and his family in Bangkok after arriving together from Cambodia on the same cross-border bus.

“Kimsrin, the Cambodian national who acted as a spotter, is now subject to an Interpol red notice. We are working with Cambodian police to have him arrested and extradited to Thailand to face charges,” Police Major Gen. Theeradej Thammasutee told reporters.

Police on Tuesday arrested a Thai man suspected of helping the gunman escape to the Cambodian border after the shooting. The man told investigators he had given Aekaluck a ride but had no idea what he had just done.

Political opposition in Cambodia has been largely stifled for years by a government that does not tolerate dissent.

Lim Kimya was a dual French-Cambodian citizen who won a seat in Cambodia’s National Assembly in a 2013 election.

He was a tireless government critic who refused to leave Cambodia or be cowed into silence on issues such as corruption and human rights even though many colleagues left, especially after the CNRP was banned just before a 2018 general election.

The killing of Lim Kimya has shone a spotlight on the fate in Thailand of dissidents from neighboring countries.

Last November, Thailand deported six members of the CNRP -- four women and two men, along with a child -- back to Cambodia. The six had escaped Cambodia in 2022, and were immediately charged with treason upon their return.

A Cambodian government spokesperson rejected any suggestion that Cambodia could be blamed for a killing in another country.

Edited by Mike Firn.