BANGKOK — Thai police, in cooperation with Cambodian authorities, have arrested the main suspect in the assassination of Mr. Lim Kimya, a 74-year-old Cambodian political activist and former opposition MP. The suspect was apprehended in Cambodia on January 8, just one day after the killing in Bangkok’s historic district.
Ekkalak Paenoi, known as Sergeant M, is accused of shooting Mr. Lim on the evening of January 7 at a road median opposite Wat Bowonniwet Vihara in Phra Nakhon district. The assassination was carried out with three shots.
The suspect’s background reveals a troubled history in the Thai Navy, where he had been disciplined with detention twice, in 2021 and 2022. In 2023, he was dismissed from service after being charged with absence without leave.
Investigators identified Sergeant M as the suspected contract killer on January 8. Prior to the incident, he had been working as a motorcycle taxi driver and running errands for local vendors. Local community members expressed shock at his involvement, saying they had perceived him as harmless during his routine work and were unaware of his background.
Following the assassination, he escaped to Cambodia through Sa Kaeo province. CCTV footage captured him at the Khao Din Permanent Border Crossing Point in Khlong Hat district at 23:41 on January 7, showing a tall man in a white shirt leaving a pickup truck.
Investigators found that Sergeant M exchanged 4,000 baht at a border currency exchange shop before boarding a bus heading toward central Cambodia. Authorities tracked him until he stopped for a meal in Prey Svay commune, Moung Ruessei district, Battambang province, at 4:30 PM on January 8.
Cambodian police and Thai Metropolitan Police investigators then took the suspect to Battambang Provincial Police Command before transferring him to the Internal Security Command Headquarters in Phnom Penh for further investigation.
Meanwhile, Thai police have also identified a second suspect – a heavyset Cambodian man who arrived in Bangkok on the same bus as Mr. Lim Kimya. This suspect fled back to Cambodia immediately after the incident on Tuesday night.
Police Lt. Gen. Siam Boonsom, Metropolitan Police Commissioner, along with Police Maj. Gen. Commander of the Metropolitan Police Investigation Division and forensic investigators, examined evidence including an abandoned motorcycle found at a PT gas station in the Suan Luang district, along with some personal items.
According to Police Lt. Gen. Siam, investigators have gathered testimony from multiple witnesses, including the victim’s wife. While the motive’s potential connection to Cambodian internal politics cannot be disclosed, authorities have confirmed the perpetrators worked as a team. The investigation continues as police work to apprehend all suspects involved in the case.
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