Thai police have asked Cambodian authorities to extradite a Thai ex-marine suspected of killing a former Cambodian opposition MP, and are also seeking at least two Cambodian suspects, according to a senior Bangkok police officer.
They are hopeful that murder suspect Ekalak Paenoi can be returned to Thailand within a month or less, after Cambodian authorities finish prosecuting him for illegal entry, said Pol Maj Gen Theeradet Thumsuthee, investigative chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau.
A deputy national police chief and the Bangkok police chief have already sent letters through diplomatic channels to request the extradition of Mr Ekalak, also known as “Sergeant Em”, he said on Thursday.
Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong said Cambodia has already informed Thai authorities of its intention to extradite the suspect. This showed that Cambodia wanted to know the real motive behind the murder, the minister said. He expects the extradition could happen within a few days.
The prompt response from Phnom Penh is also seen as a way of quieting critics who believe the killing was political and linked to the long-running campaign by the country’s ruling party against its opponents.
Mr Ekalak was arrested in Battambang, Cambodia, on Wednesday evening, a day after Lim Kimya, 73, was gunned down in front of his wife and brother near Wat Bowonniwet Vihara in Phra Nakhon district of Bangkok.
The suspect fled the scene immediately and then attempted to throw detectives off his trail by travelling through Chon Buri and Chanthaburi provinces before finally heading up to Sa Kaeo and sneaking into Cambodia from there, said Pol Maj Gen Theeradet.
Police did not find a gun on the suspect when he was arrested, he said.
Although Thai detectives had followed their Cambodian counterparts to Battambang, they have not yet questioned the suspect and have no idea why he escaped to Cambodia, said Pol Maj Gen Theeradet.
Police are still looking for at least two Cambodian suspects and potentially other accomplices, he added.
One of them was the spotter who pointed out Lim Kimya to the gunman just before the killing. The spotter reportedly had arrived at the scene on the same bus that brought Lim Kimya from Siem Reap in Cambodia.
The spotter left Thailand via Suvarnabhumi airport immediately after the murder, Pol Maj Gen Theeradet said.
Pol Col Sanong Saengmanee, chief of the Chana Songkhram police station, which has jurisdiction over the crime scene, identified the suspected spotter as Kimsrin Pich, 24.
Dissidents worried
Lim Kimya was a member of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, the popular opposition party that was dissolved by the Supreme Court ahead of a 2018 election over an alleged treason plot. The party said the charges were fabricated by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party ed by Hun Sen.
Bangkok is both a magnet for political dissidents from nearby autocratic countries and, increasingly, a staging ground for deportations and forced removals that human rights groups say border on illegality.
In November, seven Cambodians who were registered with the United Nations refugee agency were forcibly sent home by Thai authorities. After their return, six of the seven — one was a child — were charged with treason in a Cambodian court.
Hundreds of Cambodian dissidents have flocked to Thailand in recent months, but the forced deportations last year and Lim Kimya’s killing have them spooked.
Khem Monykosal, 52, fled persecution in Cambodia two years ago. He has barely left the room where he is sheltering in Thailand, he told The New York Times, despite registering with the UN refugee agency. He was already worried about the possibility of political assassinations. Then came Lim Kimya’s killing.
“As an asylum-seeker in Thailand, I am very worried about my safety,” he said. “There are planned plots to kill.”
Suspected hitman Ekalak Paenoi, 42, is seen in Battambang on Wednesday evening following his arrest. (Police photo)
Police say Kimsrin Pich, a Cambodian national, was the spotter who pointed out Lim Kimya for his assassin. (Police photo)