A former Cambodian opposition MP was shot dead by a motorcyclist near Wat Bowonniwet Vihara in Phra Nakhon district of Bangkok on Tuesday evening.
Lim Kimya, 73, died at the scene. Officers with the Metropolitan Police Bureau have launched a manhunt for the assassin.
Police said surveillance camera video from the scene showed a man riding a red Honda Wave 100 motorcycle, licence plate number 845, wearing a helmet, long jeans and a grey short-sleeved shirt with a bag across the front. It is believed that a gun was hidden in the bag.
The deceased, who held Cambodian and French nationality, had reportedly travelled to Bangkok by bus from Siem Reap, Cambodia, with his French wife and Cambodian uncle.
The shooting took place shortly after they arrived at the scene, according to police. The perpetrator rode up on a motorcycle, parked it and got off to shoot. He then rode away along Phra Sumen Road, passing in front of Wat Bowonniwet, police said.
Lim Kimya was a member of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, which was the main opposition party in Cambodia before it was dissolved by the Supreme Court in November 2017.
Even though he held a French passport and could easily have resettled, he was one of a handful of party MPs who remained behind in Cambodia after many others fled into exile to avoid further persecution by then-prime minister Hun Sen.
“I will never give up politics,” he told reporters at the time.