Thai Court Sentences Man to Life for Killing Cambodian Opposition Politician

Hadisur Rahman, JadeTimes Staff

H. Rahman is a Jadetimes news reporter covering the Asia

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Image Source: Getty Image

A Thai court has sentenced Ekkalak Paenoi to life imprisonment for the January assassination of prominent Cambodian opposition figure Lim Kimya in Bangkok. Lim, who held dual Cambodian and French nationality, was shot in public hours after arriving in the Thai capital with his wife. Ekkalak fled to Cambodia following the attack, where he was arrested and deported back to Thailand.

Initially sentenced to death, Ekkalak’s punishment was reduced to life imprisonment after he confessed to the killing, the court announced on Friday. He was also found guilty of carrying and using a firearm and ordered to pay approximately $55,000 to Lim’s family. A separate defendant accused of driving Ekkalak to the Cambodian border was cleared, with the court ruling that he was unaware of the planned killing.

Lim Kimya was a former parliamentarian with Cambodia’s main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which nearly defeated the long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party in the 2013 elections. The CNRP was banned in 2017 after founder Hun Sen accused it of treason, barring members from political activity. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet, who succeeded Hun Sen in 2023, has denied any government involvement in Lim’s assassination.

Security footage from the scene showed Ekkalak calmly parking his motorbike and walking across the road before opening fire. While Lim’s widow has expressed tentative satisfaction with the verdict, she continues to question who ordered the killing and urges authorities to investigate further.

Human rights groups note that activists fleeing Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand have increasingly faced cross-border pursuit, disappearances, or killings. Some analysts suggest an unwritten regional understanding allows security forces from these neighboring countries to target dissidents across borders, raising broader concerns about political repression in Southeast Asia.

The verdict marks a rare instance of judicial accountability in a politically sensitive killing, but questions remain about the broader forces behind the attack and the safety of opposition figures in the region.