Chilling Murder in Bangkok: Widow’s Heartbreak and a Courtroom Confession
A suspected contract killer faces justice in Bangkok after the cold-blooded murder of a Cambodian opposition politician. But as the trial unfolds, the real masterminds behind the killing remain shrouded in secrecy.
Lim Kimya, a 73-year-old French national and former Cambodian MP, is gunned down on January 7 by a motorcycle assassin just after arriving in Thailand’s bustling capital. The next day, Thai national Ekkalak Paenoi is arrested across the border in Cambodia and swiftly handed over to Thai authorities. He now stands accused of premeditated murder.
Ekkalak admits to the killing in a chilling livestream video. Yet for Lim’s widow, Anne-Marie Lim, the pain is far from over. “I want to know why my husband was murdered and who ordered it. That’s what I need most,” she tells AFP outside the Bangkok courthouse, clutching a portrait of her late husband. Through tears, she adds, “His death has turned my daily life upside down.”
Cambodian opposition figures point the finger at the country’s powerful former leader, Hun Sen, accusing him of orchestrating the hit.
Suspicions, Denials, and Two Suspects on the Run
Cambodia’s current leader, Hun Manet, flatly denies any involvement by his government or his father, Hun Sen. For nearly forty years, Hun Sen ruled Cambodia, with Western governments and rights groups long accusing his regime of crushing dissent through the courts.
Anne-Marie Lim, flanked by her legal team, calls her husband a “hero” and vows to fight for justice. “He defended the Cambodian people and wanted only to do good and improve life in Cambodia,” she says. “That’s why he stood against the government.”
Also in the dock is Chakrit Buakhil, a Thai man alleged to have driven Ekkalak to the Cambodian border after the shooting. Some Thai media claim the gunman was paid 60,000 Baht (about 1,560 Euro) for the job, but police say Ekkalak insists he received nothing—he claims he acted to “repay a debt of gratitude.”
Exiled Politician’s Fate and the Hunt for the Masterminds
Lim Kimya served as an MP from 2013 to 2017, representing the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) until it was dissolved by the country’s Supreme Court. He then withdrew from politics and returned to France, according to his wife’s lawyers.
Thai police say they are hunting a Cambodian national believed to have masterminded Lim’s assassination. Two suspects have been named: Ly Ratanakrasksmey, accused of recruiting the shooter, and Pich Kimsrin, allegedly the lookout who sat on the bus beside Lim and his wife.
Days after the murder, reports surface that Ratanakrasksmey was once an adviser to Hun Sen. Cambodia’s ruling party quickly issues a statement saying he was dismissed from his post in March 2024. “We know there are two Cambodians, one of whom organised this crime,” Anne-Marie Lim says before entering court. She fears the alleged mastermind may never face justice—despite being named and believed to be hiding in Cambodia.
The Search for Truth: Motive Still a Mystery
Nadthasiri Bergman, one of Anne-Marie’s Thai lawyers, tells AFP she expects a conviction, given the gunman’s confession. “But our concern is that we may never know the real reason for the assassination. We hope to get that answer during witness questioning today,” Bergman says. The trial is set to conclude in March.
Anne-Marie Lim bears her grief in public, demanding answers that go far beyond the man who pulled the trigger. Her quest for the truth shines a harsh light on the tangled web of Cambodian politics and cross-border crime. The fact that two Cambodian suspects remain at large in their homeland highlights the daunting challenges of bringing political killers to justice.
This case exposes the deep rifts within Cambodia’s exiled opposition—and the grave dangers faced by government critics, even far from home.
