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Agence France-Presse

Police in Cambodia arrested a former Thai marine on Wednesday over the fatal shooting of a Cambodian opposition politician in a brazen attack in downtown Bangkok.
Exiled Cambodian opposition figurehead Sam Rainsy accused the country’s powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the killing of Lim Kimya, who was also a French citizen.
Lim Kimya was shot dead on Tuesday by a gunman on a motorbike as he arrived in the Thai capital from the Cambodian city of Siem Reap by bus, accompanied by his French wife.
Thai police issued a warrant for the suspected shooter on Wednesday, and in the evening Cambodia said the man had been detained at 1:50pm in Battambang province, which borders Thailand.
“The gunman is a Thai national, and a former Thai marine,” said Cambodian National Police spokesman Chhay Kim Khoeun.
Cambodian police named the suspect as Ekkalak Pheanoi – though some Thai media gave his name as Ekkalak Paenoi – and said he would be returned to Thailand, without giving a timetable.
Earlier, Sanong Sangmanee, police chief for the area of Bangkok where the shooting happened, said they had little information about the suspect except that he worked as a motorbike taxi driver.

Scores of Cambodian opposition activists have fled to Thailand in recent years to avoid alleged repression at home. Some were arrested and deported back to the country.
Hun Sen ruled Cambodia with an iron fist for nearly four decades, with rights groups accusing him of using the legal system to crush opposition to his rule.
He stepped down and handed power to his son Hun Manet in 2023 but is still seen as a major power in the kingdom.
On Tuesday, Hun Sen called for a new law to label anyone who attempts to topple Hun Manet’s government as “terrorists”.
Sam Rainsy, Hun Sen’s long-time rival, accused the former Cambodian leader of being behind the killing.
“Hun Sen’s hand can be seen behind the assassination of Lim Kimya, just as it has been behind the countless political crimes in Cambodia that have always gone unpunished,” Sam Rainsy said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
He alleged “the motive is the same, as is the modus operandi”.
Cambodian government spokesman Pen Bona said the killing was in Thailand “so Thai authorities will handle the case”.
He denied the government was involved with the killing, saying opposition figures “always accuse the government of everything groundlessly and without any evidence”.

Lim Kimya became an opposition member of Cambodia’s parliament following an election in 2013 in which Hun Sen’s ruling party almost lost to its then-rival, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
The CNRP, which was founded in 2012 by Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha and was once considered the sole viable opponent to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), was dissolved by court order in 2017.
Scores of opposition politicians and MPs, including Lim Kimya, were banned from political activities following the party’s dissolution.
The now-dissolved CNRP said in a statement it was shocked by “the heinous and inhumane” killing of Lim Kimya.
It condemned “the brutal act that badly threatens political freedom”.
Elaine Pearson, the Asia director of Human Rights Watch, urged Thailand to carry out a “thorough independent investigation” into the killing.
“What has happened in the last 24 hours really sends a chill down the spine for any Cambodian political activists that Bangkok is not a safe place,” she said.
The French embassies in Bangkok and Phnom Penh have so far declined to comment on the killing.


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Cambodia

Ex-Thai marine arrested in brazen shooting of exiled Cambodian politician in Bangkok

Lim Kimya of the Cambodia National Rescue Party speaks during an interview in 2017. Photo: AFP

A view of the scene on Wednesday where a former politician with the now-dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party, Lim Kimya, was shot dead in Bangkok. Photo: Reuters

Hun Sen (left) and his son, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet (right) attend a “Victory Day” parade in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

China’s naval base handover in Cambodia: a sign of waning US influence?

Cambodian soldiers at Ream Naval Base in 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE

A satellite photo showing two Chinese corvettes docked at the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia in May. Photo: AP

Ships carrying Chinese military personnel leave Zhanjiang to set up a support base in Djibouti in 2017. Photo: Xinhua 

Cambodian warships docked at Ream Naval Base, southwest of Phnom Penh. Photo: AP

Can Hun Manet chart Cambodia a new course free from his father’s shadow?

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet (right) walks behind his father Hun Sen, president of the Cambodian People’s Party and Cambodia’s Senate, in Phnom Penh in January. Photo: AFP

Civil servants hold photographs of Hun Manet and his father Hun Sen during a groundbreaking ceremony for the China-funded Funan Techo Canal project in August. Photo: AP 

A farmer works a field on the outskirts of Cambodian capital Phnom Penh in June last year. Photo: AFP

Hun Sen meets US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin (left) in June, 10 months after stepping down as prime minister. Photo: Cambodia Senate / AFP

Hun Manet at a ceremony in August. Diplomats refer to him as “junior prime minister”, analysts say. Photo: Agence Kampuchea Presse/AFP

Cambodians expect more of the same as Hun Sen’s son set to take power: ‘we have no hope’

Hun Manet, commander of the Royal Cambodian Army and eldest son of Prime Minister Hun Sen, shows his finger after he casts his vote at a polling station on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Hun Manet, son of Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, is seen at a polling station on in Phnom Penh on Sunday, the day of Cambodia’s general election. Photo: Reuters

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen shows his ballot at a polling station on Sunday. The 70-year-old strongman has said for years that he wants his son to take power after him. Photo: Xinhua

Hun Manet shows his finger after he casts his vote at a polling station. Despite his increasingly public presence, little is known about Hun Sen’s son. Photo: AFP

Election officials count ballots at a polling station on Sunday. Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party secured 82.3 per cent of the vote, according to preliminary results. Photo: AFP

Election officials empty a ballot box to prepare the counting of the votes in Phnom Penh. Ahead of Sunday’s vote, Hun Sen said he could pass the leadership to his son within three or four weeks. Photo: EPA-EFE

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Multiple Thai media outlets reported that a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire on Lim Kimya as he arrived in Thailand’s capital


Multiple Thai media outlets reported that a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire on Lim Kimya as he arrived in Thailand’s capital.


Crime

Thailand

Bangkok Post