A former member of Cambodia’s opposition party was shot dead in Bangkok on Tuesday evening.
Lim Kimya, a former politician of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), died at the scene near Wat Bowonniwet Vihara Ratchaworawihan, a Buddhist temple near the tourist area of Khao San Road in Phra Nakhon district, The Bangkok Post reports.
Police say a man parked his motorbike and then shot dead Lim Kimya at about 4 p.m. before fleeing. The authorities say surveillance cameras near the scene show the man riding a red Honda motorbike, and that they are searching for the suspect.
The focus is on catching the assassin, but questions remain about the motive of the killing, according to police.
Phil Robertson of Asia Human Rights and Labor Advocates (AHRLA) told VOA the killing on Tuesday is an escalation of transnational repression and appears to be a political assassination.
“This brazen shooting of a former CNRP MP on the streets of Bangkok has all the hallmarks of a political assassination and looks to be a significant escalation in the use of transnational repression in Bangkok,” he said.
Lim Kimya, 73, also held French citizenship and had reportedly traveled to Bangkok in recent days with his wife and uncle. He was elected as a member of Cambodia’s opposition party in 2013.
Cambodian activists and politicians who have opposed the country’s regime have long been targeted at home and abroad. Those who have fled to other countries, such as Thailand, have been attacked, arrested and deported to Cambodia. Critics have coined the term “transnational repression” to describe the phenomenon.
VOA reached out to Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment but has not yet received a reply.
Cambodia has been ruled by Cambodia’s People’s Party for 45 years. Critics say the regime has targeted dissidents, opposition parties and independent media who pose any threat to its rule.
Hun Manet took power in 2022, succeeding his father, Hun Sen, who led Cambodia for nearly four decades.
For a short time, the CNRP posed a legitimate challenge to Hun Sen’s rule after it was founded in 2012. But the opposition party was dissolved five years later after a Cambodian court ruled the party had attempted to overthrow the then-president.
Members of the party were banned from political activities, and its founders fled the country. Kem Sokha, one of the party’s founders, was sentenced in 2023 to 27 years for treason.
Robertson said Lim Kimya’s killing will have ramifications for other Cambodians who have fled the country.
“The direct impact will be to severely intimidate the hundreds of Cambodian political opposition figures, NGO activists, and human rights defenders who have already fled to Thailand to escape PM Hun Manet’s campaign of political repression in Cambodia,” he added.
In August, Hay Vannith, the brother of Hay Vanna, a CNRP member, was arrested at the Cambodian border.
And in November, Thailand authorities deported Pen Chan Sangkream, Hong An, Mean Chanthon, Yin Chanthou, Soeung Khunthea and Vorn Chanratana back to their homeland for criticizing an economic trade pact Cambodia was part of.
Observers and rights groups say Thailand and Cambodia have unofficial agreements in place to return political dissidents should they flee to one another’s country.
“This collaborative approach is not coincidental but strategically designed. Both countries share similar authoritarian impulses, with royal institutions and political elites working in concert to maintain their grip on power. By harmonizing their approach to dissent, Thailand and Cambodia create a more comprehensive mechanism of controlling political discourse,” Prem Singh Gill, a visiting fellow at Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta, told VOA in December.
Since 2014, more than 150 individuals in Thailand have been victims of transnational repression, according to a 2022 report from Freedom House.
