He is the son of the five-time prime minister of Nepal, Surya Bahadur Thapa.

[2] Sunil Thapa worked with UNHCR from 1988- 2012 a career that spanned twenty two years and took him to disaster prone countries for the protection and reparation of refugees.

Subsequently, Thapa was appointed as Minister of Petroleum, Commerce and Supplies from April 2014 to September 2015.

from Padmodaya Madhyamik Vidhyalaya, under His Majesty's Government Examination Board, Kathmandu, Nepal.

In 1983 he completed his Master's of Art in Government with emphasis in Public Administration from Claremont Graduate School, Clarement, California.