Boun Oum (also Prince Boun Oum or Prince Boun Oum Nachampassack) son of King Ratsadanay, was the heir to the defunct throne of Champassack. A political conservative sympathetic to French control of Laos, he commanded a force of 15,000 that fought Japanese occupiers and the Lao Issara[?] in the south of Laos. Titular leader of the royalist faction, he served as prime minister of the Kingdom of Laos in 1948 - 1949 and again in 1960 - 1961. He retired from politics to pursue business interests from his base in Pakxe and Champassack but continued to be a major power broker until his exile in 1975, the year the communists came to power.