“Lim Kimya… died at the scene. Officers with the Metropolitan Police Bureau have launched a manhunt for the assassin,” the Bangkok Post reported, adding that the deceased was a dual Cambodian-French national.
Thai police confirmed the death of a Cambodian man without identifying him as Lim Kimya, telling AFP “we are currently investigating the motives and will provide more information at a later time”.
Multiple Thai media outlets reported that a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire on Lim Kimya as he arrived in the Thai capital from the Cambodian city of Siem Reap by bus, accompanied by his French wife and a Cambodian uncle.
An AFP photojournalist saw blood at the scene near the popular Khao San Road area of Bangkok.
“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,” said Phil Robertson, director of Asia Human Rights Labour Advocates.
“The French government must aggressively pursue justice for their citizen, Lim Kimya, and leave no stone unturned in pressing the Thai government to effectively and thoroughly investigate this assassination, no matter where the path leads.”
Opposition crackdown
Lim Kimya was elected as an opposition member of Cambodia’s parliament following a general poll in 2013 in which the ruling party under former leader Hun Sen almost lost to its then-rival, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
