Boun Oum (12 December 1911 – 17 March 1980) was Prime Minister of Laos from 25 March 1948 to 24 February 1950 (succeeding Souvannarath and preceding Phoui Sananikone) and from 13 December 1960 to 23 June 1962 (interrupting Souvanna Phouma's two terms). He was one of Laos' "Three Princes" during the Laotian Civil War, alongside Souphanouvong and Souvanna Phouma, and he led the royalist faction.
Biography[]
Boun Oum was born in Champasak, Laos in 1911, and he succeeded his father as a prince in 1946, became President of the Royal Council in 1948, and became Inspector-General in 1949. He was sympathetic to the French, and he led 15,000 troops against the Japanese in the south of Laos during World War II. Boun Oum went on to become the leader of the royalist faction of Laotian politics and serve as Prime Minister from 1948 to 1950 and from 1960 to 1962, and he later retired from politics to pursue business interests. He was a major power broker until he went into exile in France in 1975 following the Pathet Lao's seizure of power, and he died in Boulogne-Billancourt in 1980 at the age of 68.