From our founding to the present, LANNA’s journey is shaped by a tradition of academic excellence, a strong community, and guiding principles that inspire lifelong learning.
We aim to provide academic excellence within a caring community.
We follow a broad British curriculum and seek to enable our students to achieve their full potential and become creative, responsible and successful citizens.
LANNA’s Executive Board exists to provide guidance to the school’s administration and leadership. It seeks to improve the school’s connections with parents and with the wider educational community. It serves as an advocate of the school, its Mission and Vision.
The Board’s operations and membership comply with Thailand’s laws on private schools.
Executive Board members are:
Full details of the Board’s proceedings and operations are provided in the LANNA Governance Structure Handbook.
LANNA’s Co-Founder, Paul, was born on May 10, 1950 in Deming, New Mexico. He was born the younger of two siblings to Leonard and Irene. At the age of two Paul was diagnosed with what was a common disease at that time – polio. His father was also diagnosed with polio at the same time, but unfortunately did not survive.
Although this disease caused paralysis to the lower extremities, requiring a dozen surgical operations throughout his childhood and leaving him permanently wheelchair bound, Paul was determined to succeed in life. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1973. After graduation Paul travelled to Thailand many times, and here he met his wife Surin. He returned to Minnesota with his wife, where he taught Thai at The University of Minnesota, briefly, but made lifetime connections within the Thai community.
Still determined to surpass everyone’s expectation of a person in a wheelchair, Paul, in 1981, opened one of the first Thai restaurants in downtown Minneapolis. Not long after opening, the restaurant received rave reviews from local media and customers. After doing so well, Paul and Surin then acquired yet another restaurant. But after three children and many long hours, Paul and Surin decided to sell both businesses and returned to Thailand in 1989.
Paul’s ambition continued in Thailand, where he worked part-time exporting to the United States, but devoted himself fully to spending time with his family. A dedicated father, Paul wanted his children to experience the Thai culture and people which he had grown to love. This love for Thailand and his family inspired the opening of Lanna International School in 1993. After many years of hiring teachers to home-school his oldest child, along with a few other students, Paul felt the need to provide this type of quality education for his two youngest children and other families in the Chiang Mai community. Lanna International School was born.
Just a few months after the opening of Lanna International School, in 1993, Paul became ill and passed away while fundraising for the school in the United States. He passed away leaving his wife Surin and his three children to continue on with his legacy. Since Paul saw no challenge to be too big, and no dream beyond arm’s reach, his wife and children chose to continue with Lanna International School in memory of Paul’s spirit and lust for life.
In the 2023-2024 Academic Year, LANNA celebrated a significant milestone in the school’s history as we marked the 30th Anniversary with a 30th Anniversary Gala program that honoured our founders, alumni, and staff.
The program showcased student performances and included a live art auction, which successfully generated funds to support local organisations dedicated to assisting underserved youth.
Thank you to all our attendees for a memorable evening!
For me, Lanna School does not represent an ordinary school; it has never done so. It is a lively community where everyone is included; parents, teachers and students. It’s like a big family of the friendliest and funniest people you will ever meet. I cannot thank Lanna enough for having kept me as grounded as I am today.
I’m now at the University of Manchester in England studying Architecture. It’s one of the toughest courses but Lanna prepared me really well. I’m loving it (and football).
Lanna has also transformed me from being reluctant to represent myself to becoming the strongest version of myself. It taught me to explore and challenge different aspects of my life and have fun. My times at Lanna were truly the best times of my life, it has the coolest, cleverest and craziest teachers in the world. Make no mistake, this is a special place.
Thanat Prathnadi (Class of 2014)
B Arch Manchester University, UK
