Thai murder suspect acted out of ‘gratitude’ in Cambodian lawmaker killing
Motorcycle taxi driver and former marine Ekkalak Paenoi confessed to the crime on Saturday after his arrest on Wednesday
A Thai man accused of killing a former Cambodian opposition lawmaker in Bangkok said he committed the crime to repay someone who helped him during a tough period in his life, police said on Sunday.
Ekkalak Paenoi confessed to the crime on Saturday in a live stream video after being charged with premeditated murder and unauthorised gun ownership.
Lim Kimya, a former lawmaker for the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was gunned down on Tuesday by a motorcyclist as he arrived in Bangkok by bus from Cambodia with his French wife.
Cambodian opposition figures have accused the country’s powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the shooting, although a government spokesman has denied official involvement.
Ekkalak – who Thai media have said was a former marine – was arrested in Cambodia on Wednesday, before being extradited to Thailand on Saturday.
“The shooter said he took this job to pay a debt of gratitude to someone who had helped him during a tough period after he was sacked from the navy,” said Attaporn Wongsiripreeda, a senior police official in Bangkok.
