Throughout his years in government, he has a list of appointments. He was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1987 to 1992, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare from 1993 to 1997, and a member of the
National Assembly from 1998 to 2000. He became
deputy prime minister and President of the State Planning Committee on 27 March 2001, and he was additionally appointed Foreign Minister on 8 June 2006, replacing
Somsavat Lengsavad. He was chosen to become
Prime Minister of Laos at the
10th Party Congress on 23 January 2016. on 30 May 2019 when they were Prime Ministers
Barack Obama and
First Lady Michelle Obama, 2009
As Prime Minister (2016–2021) After Thongloun became the Prime Minister of Laos, he began anti-corruption campaigns in the Lao government. From April 2016 to February 2017, the State Inspection Authority made 25 arrests related to corruption. Under Thongloun, the government auctioned off
BMW 7 Series and
Mercedes-Benz cars issued by the government and replaced them with
Toyota Camrys. In 2017, there were disputes on the
Cambodia–Laos border, and Cambodian Prime Minister
Hun Sen warned: "I appeal to Laos Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith to withdraw troops from Cambodian territory without any conditions." On 23 July 2018, a saddle dam part of the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy hydropower project on the
Mekong river in
Champasak province collapsed, killing 71 people whilst displacing 14,440. The dam was being worked on by Laos,
Thailand and
South Korea, with there being warnings of the dam's unsafety in preceding days. As Prime Minister, Thongloun postponed meetings and travelled to the affected area in
Sanamxay district to oversee relief efforts. On 4 January 2020, Thongloun represented Laos in Hanoi at the 42nd meeting of the Vietnam – Laos Inter-Governmental Committee with the Vietnamese Prime Minister. During the meetings, he praised Vietnam's economy, with both countries agreeing to strengthen ties and cooperation between each other. During the
COVID-19 pandemic, Laos cooperated with Vietnam and
Cambodia, with Thongloun holding phone calls with his Cambodian and Vietnamese counterparts
Hun Sen and
Nguyễn Xuân Phúc. At the 36th ASEAN summit on 26 June 2020, he represented Laos where he spoke on the success of
ASEAN during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 10 June, he praised the National Taskforce Committee for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Laos following 59 days of no new cases of COVID-19, and support from other countries such as China, United States and Vietnam. In August 2020, he urged the media to continue "defeating the fake, deceptive, and harmful news" on social media sites. This was interpreted by international media as a way to tell the media in Laos to not report negatively on the government. On 13 December 2020, Thongloun spoke to the
United Nations on how Laos continues to follow the
Paris Agreement, and other policies which aim to reduce carbon emissions. He asked for support from other nations to assist Laos reach these targets. At the
11th National Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party on 15 January 2021, he was elected the party's general secretary, and hence the
de facto leader of Laos, Thongloun was sworn into office on 22 March 2021, replacing previous leader Bounnhang Vorachith after the latter's retirement. Phankham Viphavanh replaced Thongloun as Prime-minister. == Leadership ==