By Panarat Thepgumpanat and Panu Wongcha-um
BANGKOK (Reuters) – A Thai court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for an alleged hit man who shot dead a former Cambodian opposition lawmaker in a brazen attack in Bangkok’s crowded old quarter, police said.
Lim Kimya, 74, who had arrived in Thailand just hours earlier, was shot dead on Tuesday by a waiting gunman who fired three shots, said a police officer, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to media.
Lim Kimya, a Cambodian and French citizen, had crossed into Thailand from Cambodia at noon on Tuesday with his wife and brother and traveled to Bangkok by bus before he was shot dead, the official said.
Police Colonel Sanong Saengmanee, superintendent of the local precinct, told Reuters an arrest warrant had been issued for a 41-year-old motorcycle taxi driver for premeditated murder.
Bangkok police chief, General Siam Boonsom, said an investigation so far indicated the killer was a hit man.
“We have gathered evidence and know who is the perpetrator … Right now we are working to arrest him,” he told reporters.
Lim Kimya was a member of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, the popular opposition that was dissolved by a court ahead of a 2018 election over an alleged treason plot. The CNRP said at the time that the charges against it were fabricated by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.
Surrounded by a pool of blood, Lim Kimya lay on his back, clad in a blue polo shirt and white shorts, as a policeman attempted to revive him, according a photo shared by first responders. A small blue suitcase lay nearby.
“Thai authorities should promptly and thoroughly investigate and prosecute those responsible,” Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
“The Cambodian government has intimidated, surveilled and harassed former CNRP members – including those living in exile in neighboring Thailand.”
Cambodian government spokesperson Pen Bona said the killing was a matter for the authorities of Thailand, a sovereign state. He said the Cambodian government was often accused by opposition “extremists” of being behind incidents.
The Cambodian and French embassies and Thailand’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to separate requests from comment.
Cambodia’s government, led by the CPP for more than four decades, has conducted a ruthless, years-long crackdown on its opponents, with scores of politicians and activists jailed, many in absentia, and hundreds more fleeing into exile. It has denied persecuting the opposition.
Lim Kimya was not a prominent member of the opposition movement. Police said they were still investigating the motive for his killing.
(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat and Panu Wongcha-um, Additional reporting by Chalinee Thirasupa, Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal, Martin Petty)
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