Thais say they know who killed Cambodian opposition critic; warrant issued

BANGKOK – Thai police said on Wednesday they had identified a suspect in the killing of a former Cambodian opposition lawmaker who was gunned down on a Bangkok street the previous day in a brazen attack that is sure to spread fear among Cambodian and other dissidents living in Thailand.

Lim Kimya, 74, a former member of the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, or CNRP, was shot twice at around 4 p.m. on Tuesday on a busy street near Wat Bowonniwet Vihara temple in Bangkok’s old quarter. He died at the scene.

Lim Kimya, who had dual French-Cambodian citizenship, had just arrived in Thailand by bus from Cambodia’s Siem Reap province, with his French wife and Cambodian uncle, media reported.

Surveillance footage posted to Facebook showed a tall man removing his motorbike helmet before strolling across a street and approaching Lim Kimya. Three shots could be heard on the video. Then the man – wearing long jeans and a grey short-sleeved shirt with a bag across the front – jogs back to his motorbike and rides away while adjusting his helmet.

Bangkok’s Metropolitan Police commissioner, Lt. Gen. Siam Boonsom, told media police had identified the suspected gunman but could not specify a motive for the killing.

“The perpetrator is a former navy officer who worked as a motorcycle taxi driver at a Sukhumvit stand,” he said, referring to a Bangkok thoroughfare. “We have gathered evidence and submitted a request to the Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant.”

The Ratchada Criminal Court early on Wednesday approved an arrest warrant for the suspect, identified by Siam as Aekaluck Paenoi, on charges of premeditated murder and illegally carrying weapons in public.

Cambodia’s authoritarian government has for decades crushed all opposition to it. Critics and rights groups have accused it of numerous killings over the years, which it has denied.

The shooting of Lim Kimya bore the hallmakers of a political assassination, one prominent rights activist said, but Siam warned against jumping to conclusions.

“Rumors about international political motives are likely premature. It could be a personal conflict. All answers will be known once we apprehend the suspect. Whether this was a lone actor or part of a larger operation is still under investigation,” said Siam.

‘Protect peace’

Lim Kimya told the French news agency AFP in 2017 that he would “never give up politics” and planned to stay in Cambodia despite an order from the Supreme Court banning the CNRP.

The CNRP was founded by veteran opposition leader Sam Rainsy in 2012 as the then latest incarnation of his efforts to organize a party to challenge the long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party, or CPP, of veteran leader Hun Sen.

The CNRP was banned by the court following accusations that it had plotted to topple the government. Many of its top leaders – including Sam Rainsy – left the country after the ruling.

“With dual French-Cambodian citizenship, Lim Kimya could have easily joined the three dozen MPs who have fled abroad,” AFP wrote in 2017. “Yet Lim Kimya refuses to quit.”

Tuesday’s shooting came as former prime minister and veteran strongman Hun Sen urged the government to pass a law allowing prosecutors to charge dissidents with terrorism.

“It is time to make a law that will define any person or group that has plans or actions to create an anti-extremist movement, cause chaos and insecurity in society, cause conflict with others, and attempt to overthrow the government as terrorists who must be brought to justice to protect peace,” he said at a ceremony marking the 46th anniversary of the day the Khmer Rouge regime was driven from power by Vietnamese invaders.

In June, Hun Sen encouraged CPP supporters to “smash” and “destroy” opposition political activists in audio comments that were purportedly recorded at a party meeting and circulated on social media.

With no real opposition allowed, the CPP has dominated politics since Vietnam’s occupation in the 1980s, and has easily won general elections over the decades.

After 38 years in power, Hun Sen resigned as prime minister in 2023 to make way for his son, Hun Manet, who has since shown little interest in changing his father’s heavy-handed approach. Hun Sen serves as president of the CPP and as Senate president and is widely seen by Cambodians as still wielding power.

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‘Intimidated, harassed’

Dozens of pro-democracy Cambodian activists have fled to Thailand to seek asylum over the years as the CPP has used intimidation and the courts to neutralize critics. But rights groups and Cambodian exiles say Cambodian authorities have pursued critics into Thailand.

“The Cambodian government has intimidated, surveilled and harassed former CNRP members – including those living in exile in neighboring Thailand,” Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement on the murder of Lim Kimya. “Thai authorities should promptly and thoroughly investigate and prosecute those responsible.”

Tuesday’s shooting would have a “direct impact” in intimidating hundreds of Cambodian opposition figures, NGO activists and human rights defenders who have fled to Thailand to escape repression, said Phil Robertson, the director of Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates.

“This brazen shooting of a former CNRP MP on the streets of Bangkok has all the hallmarks of a political assassination, and looks to be a significant escalation in the use of transnational repression in Bangkok,” he said in a statement.

Robertson urged Thai authorities to conduct a thorough investigation, adding that France should also “aggressively pursue justice” for Lim Kimya – “no matter where the path leads.”

“Thailand’s international reputation is on the line in this case, and the Thai police and politicians should recognize they can’t just sweep this brutal murder under the rug,” he said.

International rights groups have condemned Thailand for assisting neighbors, including Vietnam and Cambodia, to undertake what the groups say is unlawful action against rights defenders and dissidents, making Thailand increasingly unsafe for those fleeing persecution.

Human Rights Watch has criticized what it called a “swap mart” of transnational repression in which foreign dissidents in Thailand are effectively traded for critics of the Thai government living abroad.

Prime Minister Hun Manet met the then-Thai prime minister, Srettha Thavisin, last February in Bangkok to discuss a crackdown on what they called “interference” in Cambodian politics by Thai-based Cambodian activists.

In November, six activists associated with the CNRP and one minor were deported from Thailand to Cambodia at the request of the Cambodian government. The six adults, who escaped Cambodia in 2022, were subsequently charged with “treason.”

A Thai senator, Angkhana Neelapaijit, told media the assassination of Lim Kimya was unacceptable.

“The prime minister must not ignore the case,” he said. “This signals that Bangkok is no longer safe, especially for political dissidents.”

Translated by Yun Samean. Edited by Matt Reed and Taejun Kang.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news organization.