RTW Trip Day #61: Lanta Thai Cookery School

28 November 2025

Steps: 4,680

Today was my birthday, which was a bit of an odd experience as I don’t think I’ve ever had a birthday overseas before and I’m usually in work! It’s also been a while since I’ve had family with me, so it made the day feel even more special, especially as we celebrated with a cooking class at Lanta Thai Cookery School.

Lanta Thai Cookery School

I absolutely love cooking classes, and in fact me and Susie did a class here back in 2011 when we last visited Koh Lanta with my sister. I was really looking forward to seeing Jess have a go too, as she has been enjoying her Thai food on this trip, and she was eager to give it a try!

The kitchen sits in a lovely outdoor covered setting, with large tables for preparing the food and cooking stations lined along the balcony overlooking the gardens.

The only awkward part of the class is that everyone collectively has to agree on four dishes to cook from the ten in the recipe book. Our choice was made a bit easier because there were meant to be thirteen people in the class, but a group of seven arrived late, so the six of us picked what we wanted.

Here is the list of dishes, and the ones we chose are in bold:

• Tom Yam (Chicken, Seafood or Prawns)

• Golden Cups with chicken, vegetable and herb filling

• Phad Thai (Chicken, Seafood, Prawns or Tofu)

• Stir Fried Chicken or Seafood with Cashew Nuts

• Green Curry with Chicken or Seafood, making paste

• Panang Curry with Chicken, including making paste

• Thai Beef Salad

• Khao Soi with Chicken or Tofu

• Stir Fried Chicken or Seafood with Hot Basil Leaves

• Bua Loy – Three Colours of Rice Balls in Coconut Milk

Before we started, Prim our wonderful teacher showed us all the Thai ingredients we would be using during the session, including a few that we struggle to find in Canada like finger root.

We then began preparing everything and placing the ingredients into little baskets ready for cooking. That meant chopping the vegetables and herbs and making the curry pastes in the pestle and mortar. Jess got stuck into all of it but had to be a little careful with the knife.

The golden cups were the first dish we made, and that was the one Jess chose. They turned out to be delicious, and they weren't what I would have chosen to be honest, but I'm glad we did!

Jess chose the golden cups - it was a great choice!

The cups themselves were made using a special tool, which is a bit like a cupcake holder on a stick that you dip into the batter rather than fill, then fry in oil to form a little crispy cup.

Next up was the khao soi curry noodles from Northern Thailand, that we have fallen in love with on this trip. Jess fried the sauce in the wok and then even made her own crispy noodles in the hot oil to finish off the dish. It was definitely our favourite of the main courses we cooked.

Jess has decided that she wants these crispy noodles in her lunch box when she gets home!

The final two dishes were the Pad Thai noodles and stir fried chicken with hot basil leaves. The Pad Thai was delicious and the chicken stir fry had a unique flavour from the hot basil, that is very different to the basil we have back home.

There was so much food! The good thing though was that you were able to pack up any dishes you didn’t want to eat there and then, to take home with you.

The class cost 1,500 baht per adult, and children were half price. Kids only cooked two of the dishes, which was perfect for Jess, as she wouldn't have been able to eat that much anyway!

A Change of Plan for Dinner

In the evening we had planned to go out for dinner at a restaurant called Yang Garden Restaurant, but we were all so full from the cooking class, that we ended up having a few cocktails at the hotel and ended up getting a takeout pizza and playing cards as a family. A great way to spend my 43rd birthday!!!

Previous Day #60: A Visit to Lanta Animal Welfare

Next Day #62: Beach Day at Relax Bay, Koh Lanta

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