LOCATION
THAILAND – Mae Sot
LOCAL PARTNER
‘To embody professionalism, I strive to remain positive, approach tasks with commitment, show resilience and maintain enthusiasm. These qualities, instilled by HCTC, shape my career path,’ Soraya, waitress at the Grand Hyatt Erawan in Bangkok.
Contact: Louis MOUGINOT
Project coordinator
E-mail: louis.mouginot@iecd.org
The Hospitality-Catering Training Centre in Mae Sot, Thailand
In Northwest Thailand, on the border with Myanmar, the town of Mae Sot is home to a large Karen minority which is one of the most vulnerable populations in Thailand. In 2009, the IECD and its local partner, the Tak Border Child Assistance Foundation, opened the HCTC (Hospitality-Catering Training Center) in order to help underprivileged young people by offering them a chance to access promising jobs in the hospitality-catering sector.
Every year, the center offers about 30 young people the opportunity to learn all associated trades, from cooking to accommodation and reception to waiting, over a two-year period. Each student completes two internships and practices every week at ″The Passport″ application unit. The students all board and receive solid basic training in life skills, a guarantee of success for their adult life and professional integration.
The entire training programme is validated by a diplôme d’État (state diploma).
In addition, the school welcomes refugees from Myanmar, where they fled from war, and offers them short training courses so that they can also enter the job market.
INNOVATIVE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
Two new educational spaces were created in 2016:
1. An educational garden: it has a dual role of supplying the hotel-restaurant with fruit, vegetables, herbs and even flowers for decorating the dining rooms and of providing an educational space where students can develop their skills and knowledge in growing fruit and vegetables and flowers.
2.A resource center: comprising a library and a multimedia laboratory, it offers access to reading and culture for all, interactive training and provides students with a space where they can work and relax.
The school in motion:
The HCTC school in Mae Sot helps young underprivileged people rise out of poverty – © 2025
The HCTC school in Mae Sot in motion – © 2017
The HCTC school in Mae Sot – © 2015
The results:
