It was a busy day in the kitchen at The Academy Luang Prabang on 18 September. A group of students who were about to graduate were hard at work, preparing a special four-course French dinner.
The students cooked for nearly 40 guests, served the food, poured glasses of wine, and kept things moving in the dining room as the evening went on.
At The Academy, it was a chance to put months of training into practice, this time with real guests sitting at the tables and waiting to be served. For the students, it was a chance to see what it was like to handle a full dinner service from start to finish.
Chefs Thongsa Soulisack from Gaspard and Wochirawish Lerttanapornsit from Rosewood Luang Prabang worked with the students to prepare the dinner. The menu included four French courses and wine pairings, while the students took charge of cooking and serving under the chefs’ guidance.
This was different from practicing in class. The students had to keep up with a real dinner service, getting the food ready on time, sending out plates together, and making sure guests were not left waiting.
“It was a great experience. I learned many things I had never known before, which are important for working in hospitality and will help me find a job,” said Anout Chanthamaly, 18, from Thapaen village near Kuang Si Falls.
Chanthalack Phommachith, 27, who previously worked in the media industry, said the program changed how she sees the work.
“Before, I thought serving was not that difficult. I thought it was just about serving food and setting up tables. But after joining the program, I realized that hospitality requires much more than that,” she said.
That is the kind of experience the academy wants its students to have before they graduate and enter the hospitality industry.
The academy opened in November 2025 after the former Lanith Luang Prabang Training Center was renovated and upgraded. It is part of the Luang Prabang Technical-Vocational College.
The students come from Luang Prabang and nearby provinces. Many are young people who might not otherwise have been able to continue their education because of family or financial reasons. The academy offers them free training, giving them a chance to learn practical skills for work in the hospitality industry.
Over about three months, students learn everything from preparing and serving food to managing events. Their teachers also help them look for work in hotels and other parts of the hospitality industry after graduation.
The dinner gave them a chance to put those skills to work.
Graduates have different plans. Anout learned guest service, basic barista skills and bartending. A hospitality establishment near his home village offered him a job, and it is scheduled to open in November 2026. While he waits to start work, he has begun studying Chinese to communicate with Chinese-speaking guests.
Moukphachanh Panyakeo, 19, came from Phongsaly Province to study architecture at Souphanouvong University but decided after his first year that the field was not for him. His older sister, a former academy student, encouraged him to apply. He now works as a trainee at a hotel in Luang Prabang, and he said the program made him more confident around people. He used to avoid speaking in front of groups.
“I like drinking coffee, but I enjoy alcoholic drinks even more,” he told The Laotian Times, laughing. “You can make many different drinks with different flavors, and that is what makes them special. I have decided that I want to become a barista or bartender in the future.”
Chanthalack left the media industry to try something new and has decided to work as a bartender at a bar in Luang Prabang.
“I love talking to different people every day, and that makes the job exciting,” she said.
Rosewood has been working with the academy throughout the students’ training. Its head chef and food and beverage director teach weekly classes at the center.
Manysone Manychit, 18, from a village near Kuang Si Falls, grew up cooking Lao food with her mother and worked as an assistant chef at the academy, where the chefs from Gaspard and Rosewood taught her French cuisine. She had been studying at a university in Vietnam before she returned home. Her mother did not want her to study far from home, so she decided to continue at Souphanouvong University in her hometown.
She must take an exam next year to enter, so she joined the academy instead of waiting idle.
“Before joining, I mainly cooked Lao food, but now I have the opportunity to learn other styles of cuisine that I have wanted to explore for a long time through hands-on experience,” she said. She is about to start work at a tourism business near her home village.
The academy is supported by the Skills for Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry, or STAF, program, which helped pay for the renovation, equipment, and student scholarships. STAF is co-financed by the governments of Laos, Luxembourg, and Switzerland, and the European Union.
Students also get to work at the center outside their regular classes, helping run its food, beverage, and event services. The center also offers additional training for people already working in tourism and hospitality in Luang Prabang and nearby areas.
The program follows a similar model to The Academy Training Hotel and Restaurant in Vang Vieng, which is also supported by STAF.
