The Thai suspect wanted for shooting a former Cambodian opposition MP to death in Bangkok has been arrested in Cambodia, police said on Wednesday night.

Ekalak Paenoi, 41, had fled across the border after carrying out the shooting of Lim Kimya on Tuesday evening. He was apprehended at a restaurant in Battambang province around 4.30pm on Wednesday afternoon.

Police said the suspect, also known as “Sergeant Em”, had served in the Royal Thai Navy and was currently working as a motorcycle taxi driver. He was found to have a criminal history.

The Criminal Court earlier on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for the hitman who carried out the attack in a crowded area near Wat Bowonniwet Vihara in Phra Nakhon district of Bangkok.

Lim Kimya, 73, had arrived in Bangkok just hours earlier after taking a bus from Siem Reap in Cambodia. He was shot dead in front of his wife and brother by a waiting gunman who fired three shots.

The gunman fled on a motorcycle, which was later found abandoned at a petrol station in the Suan Luang area. 

He was reportedly seen leaving the area in a taxi. Later he boarded a pickup truck that took him to Sa Kaeo province where he crossed over into Cambodia.

A Thai police team that had arrived at the border around midnight on Tuesday had been tracking the suspect’s movements and coordinated with their Cambodian counterparts to locate and detain him.