Ex-Marine accused of assassinating ex-MP in Bangkok says he acted out of ‘gratitude’, police say

A Thai man accused of murdering a former Cambodian opposition lawmaker in Bangkok has said he committed the crime to pay back someone who helped him through a difficult time in his life, police told AFP.

Ekkalak Paenoi pleaded guilty in a live video on Saturday after being charged with manslaughter and illegal possession of a firearm. On Monday, a Thai court sentenced Ekkalak to 12 days in prison.

Lim Kimya, a former lawmaker from the defunct Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was shot dead by a motorcyclist on Tuesday while traveling by bus from Cambodia to Bangkok with his French wife.

Cambodia’s opposition accuses the country’s powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the shooting, although a government spokesman denies official involvement.

Ekkalak, who Thai media said was a former marine, was arrested in Cambodia on Wednesday before being extradited to Thailand on Saturday.

Attaporn Wongsiripreeda, a senior police officer in Bangkok, said: “The shooter said he took this job to pay a debt of gratitude to someone who helped him during a difficult time after being kicked out of the navy.”

Some Thai media said he was paid 60,000 baht ($1,700), but Attaporn told a local broadcaster that Ekkalak claimed he was not paid.

Attaporn declined to answer questions from AFP.

Another senior police official said an arrest warrant had also been issued for the Cambodian accomplice on Saturday.

A large number of Cambodian opposition activists have fled to Thailand in recent years to escape repression in the country. Some were arrested and deported 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 abdicated in 2023 and handed over power to his son Manet the Hun, but is still seen as a major force in the kingdom.

On Tuesday, Hun Sen called for a new law to label anyone who tries to topple Hun Manet’s government as a “terrorist”.

The National Rescue Party of Cambodia said in a statement that it was “deeply shocked and appalled by the barbaric and inhuman assassination” and called on Thai authorities to conduct a thorough investigation to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The National Rescue Party of Cambodia was expected to mount a strong challenge to former Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party in the 2018 general election. But as part of a large-scale crackdown on the opposition ahead of the election, the high court dissolved the party and the ruling party subsequently won every seat in the National Assembly.

Recent posts on Lim Kimya’s Facebook page have been critical of the government, including the unnecessary spending of public money on events that do not benefit the Cambodian people.

Under Hun Sen, who has been in power for nearly 40 years, Cambodia has been widely criticized for human rights abuses, including suppression of freedom of speech and association. He was succeeded by his American-educated son Hun Manet in August 2023, but there were few signs of political liberalization.

Phil Robertson, director of Asian Human Rights and Labor Lawyers, said the shooting had “all the hallmarks of a political conspiracy and appears to be a significant escalation in the use of transnational repression in Bangkok to intimidate opposition to the ruling government”.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.