Touby Lyfoung was the son of Ly Xia Foung, a very well respected man among the Hmong community of Laos, and the grandson-in-law of Lo Bliayao, one of the first Hmong to gain leadership position in the Laotian government. Coming from a rich and well known family, Touby was able to attend schools in the lowlands of Laos and sent to study in Vietnam as well. Touby studied at the French Lycée, School of Law, and the Administration in Vientiane. The French were impressed by his education, for he was the only Hmong to have attained such an education in the French colonial empire.