Pai,In Thailand

2010-07-26T15:01:00.001+07:00

Pai, Thailand

Pai (Thai: ปาย) is a small town

in northern Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province, near t

Myanmar border, north of Chiang Mai on the northern route to Mae Hong Son. It lies along the Pai River. The town has thesaban tambon status and covers parts of the tambon Wiang Tai of Pai district. As of 2006, it has a population of 2,284.^[1]

^{Access
Pai is located on Route 1095, which connects Mae Hong Son with Chiang Mai. The Pai Airport, which had been decommissioned for 20 years, was paved and refurbished in 2005-6, and on 1 February 2007, Siam General Aviation began daily passenger service to and from Chiang Mai International Airport.}

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Tourism and Development

Pai was once a quiet market village inhabited by Shan people (ethnic Tai whose culture is influenced by Burma; see the History section below), but nowadays Pai primarily thrives on tourism. Well-known among backpackers for its relaxed atmosphere, the town is full of cheap guesthouses, souvenir shops and restaurants. In the proximity of the town are spas and elephant camps. Further outside of town, there are several waterfalls and a number of natural hot springs varying in temperature from 80 to 200 degrees Celsius. Some resorts tap the hot springs and feed hot water into private bungalows and public pools. As Pai lies at the foot of the mountains, many tourists use it as a base for trekking and visiting hill tribes like Karen,Hmong, Lisu and Lahu. Another notable attraction is the town's excellent Wednesday Market which brings large and colorful crowds of local villagers and tribal people from all around the Pai Valley.

Recently Pai has appeared on the Thailand tourist map and has received major infrastructure upgrades including an airport with several daily flights, two 7-Elevens, several small- to medium-size luxury resorts (adding to the more than 118 guesthouses and restaurants which existed as of June 2007^[2]), a couple of live music clubs, beer bars and two sets of traffic lights. This has done little to dampen the small and peaceful spirit of the town out of season. However, it has led to a recent influx of business investment and land speculation by both farang (non-Asian foreigners) and big city Thais. While some hail these sweeping changes as a new age of prosperity for Pai, others point to the loss of Pai's traditional customs and culture.

In the tourist high season of November through March there are large numbers of tourists. Prior to 2006, foreign tourists predominated, but now Thai tourists make up the vast majority, particularly after Pai featured in two popular, Thai-made romantic movies, The Letter: Jod Mai Rak (Thai: จดหมายรัก, 2004) and Ruk Jung (Thai: รักจัง, 2006).

Pai has music festivals regularly as well as staging an International Enduro Championship.

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History

Unless otherwise indicated, the information in this section is based on local Pai resident Thomas Kasper's history of Pai:^[5]

The area of modern-day Pai has been inhabited for more than 5,000 years. About 2,000 years ago, the Lua (or Lawa) Tribe was the dominant ethnic group all over the area of today's northern Thailand, and a few of their descendants still live in villages only about 20km away from Pai.

The recorded history of the area starts about 800 years ago with the establishment of a settlement (today known as Ban Wiang Nuea) about 3km north of modern-day Pai. Ban Wiang Nuea was founded in 1251 AD by Shan immigrants from the region of modern-day northern Burma. Due to the area's remoteness and seclusion, people in those times were mainly cut off from news of the outside world and therefore not much concerned with the politics of Lanna and the rest of Thailand. That changed drastically in the course of the 14th and 15th century, when the first settlers arrived from Chiang Mai. It was part of Lanna policy of the time to send citizens loyal to the Lanna throne to the outposts of the empire, in order to consolidate and affirm Lanna's territorial authority. The result was a conflict that eventually led to a series of wars over territorial dominance in the Pai area. The Lanna troops finally defeated the Shan soldiers in 1481, forcing them to retire to Burmese territory. The Shan families who had lived in the area for a long time, establishing households, farming their land and raising their families, were granted permission to stay by the Lanna prince, along with a certain degree of cultural and social autonomy under the law and authority of the Lanna kingdom. Ban Wiang Nuea as a result became a village sharply divided into two parts by a wall into a "Shan" part and a "Lanna" part.

In the second half of the 19th century, colonial powers France and England, who had already established their influence in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma, were viewing the area of modern-day Thailand with increasing interest. To consolidate Siam's influence and authority in the northern border region, the royal house encouraged Northern Thais from provinces like Payao, Lamphun and Nan to migrate to those areas. The result again was conflict: the last fight between Lanna Thai and Shan in Ban Wiang Nuea took place in 1869, when Lanna soldiers finally defeated their Shan opponents in a battle that ended with the total destruction of the village. The entire village was burnt to the ground. All structures standing in Ban Vieng Nuea today are the result of the subsequent rebuilding efforts of the villagers.

There was already a "road" (that took up to a week to traverse) leading from Chiang Mai to Pai in the late 19th century. Many of the new immigrants chose to settle in the area of the connecting road to Mae Hong Son, south of the village of Ban Wiang Nuea. This settlement was known as Ban Wiang Tai, and it developed into the modern town we know as Pai.

During World War II , the Japanese began several projects to create efficient troop and equipment transport routes between Thailand and Burma, and (in addition to the well-known Death Railway through Kanchanaburi) one of these projects was the improvement of the existing "road" from Chiang Mai through Pai and Mae Hong Son. A wood and steel bridge built by Dutch British, Australian and American Prisoners of War as well as Thai civilians pressed into service ^[6]still stands about 10 km from Pai on the road to Chiang Mai, just parallel to the bridge later built in the course of more recent road improvement projects by the Thai government. As it turned out, just about when the Japanese supply line reached Burma, the war was over.

The Thai government started developing the road leading from Chiang Mai via Pai to Mae Hong Son, known today as Route 1095, in 1967, but didn't finish paving the route until the early- to mid-1990s.

Pai's recent history is one of waves of migration: in addition to the aforementioned waves of old Shan and Lanna immigrants, Karen immigrants arrived in the 18th century, Lisu and Lahu people from areas of southern China arrived in the early 20th century, Muslim families from Chiang Mai began arriving to establish trade businesses starting around 1950, a group ofKuomintang fleeing Mao Zedong established a community in Pai in the early 1960s, and finally a new wave of refugees from the Shan State of Burma have arrived in the last few decades, fleeing the turmoil caused by the Burmese Junta to work as laborers in Thailand.

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Flood of 2005

Pai suffered a huge mudslide and severe flooding in 2005, resulting in major structural damage to homes, resorts, storefronts, and bridges.^[7] The town had almost completely recovered by the time the 2006 high season began.

Controversy over Police Conduct

Although it is a sleepy town in the mountains, Pai has over the past decade generated an unusual amount of controversy (even for Thailand) concerning the conduct of its local police, as well as the conduct of Thai drug enforcement police operating there. This is partially due to the proximity of Pai to drug routes from the Shan State in Burma, however given the post-2000 rise in incidents involving foreign tourists, it is evident that other factors are also at work. Some examples of this clear long-term trend in Pai include:

On December 24, 2001, the local Pai police arrested and jailed the owner of Bebop bar, with the rather dubious explanation that he was "letting people dance in a place of business not officially licensed as a ‘disco.’"^[8] After this event, both Bebop and Mountain Blue received additional discriminatory treatment in the form of illegal, or uneven, application of Thailand's closing-time laws. The so-called "dancing ban" by the Thai Police became a famous and well-known joke which business owners are still talking about in 2008.

Also in 2001, and again in 2003, Pai district officials and police began enforcing several illegal measures ostensibly aimed at increasing "safety" for the local tourists, specifically "a ‘recommendation’ via illegal denial of permits whereby all guesthouses must have walls made from a solid material, such as wood, gypsum, compressed fibre or cement"^[9] rather than the cheaper and more traditional bamboo favored by many guesthouse owners and low-budget backpackers. Most locals suspected other motives were involved, including both a desire to "weed out" low-budget tourists and to encourage higher-priced construction that would generate higher construction kickbacks. Several locals pointed out uneven enforcement of these laws for different businesses, depending on personal relationships with the police or district officials.

The so-called "War on Drugs" launched in February 2003 by former (now deposed) Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, in which "more than 2,000 people in Thailand were killed as the government effectively declared 'open season' on those accused of involvement in the drug trade,"^[10], took a heavy toll on Pai district and downtown Pai in particular. Many locals whose family members were murdered without investigation now take an extremely skeptical view towards any police action here.^[11]

In 2006, the Pai Police purchased a new mobile drug testing vehicle, and there have been numerous reported instances of the police entering bars and other establishments and randomly urine-testing foreign tourists. In many of these cases it is apparent that the searches were not performed legally. In Thailand, "when requesting urinalysis for drug identification purposes, at least one member of the Narcotics Suppression Police must be present. Regular Thai police do not have this right, nor do the Tourist Police. Second of all, there must be probable cause."^[12]. In most cases, apprehended suspects are detained in Mae Hong Son jail for a few days, then released with a "fine" typically on the order of 5,000-10,000 baht.^[13]

On January 5, 2008, Pai made national and international news when an off-duty police officer, Sgt-Major Uthai Dechawiwat, fatally shot Canadian tourist Leo John Del Pinto, and shot and wounded a second Canadian tourist Carly Reisig, fleeing the scene immediately after the event.^[14]^[15] Nearly all involved believe that both the policeman and suspects were drunk at the time. Official police reports differ widely from eye-witness reports and it is expected that the officer will be acquitted by the Thai Justice system. In an extremely unusual development which highlights the deep integrity issues that exist with the Pai police, reporter Andrew Drummond published an editorial in The Nation where he expressed his regrets for publishing views from all sides of the story in his earlier Nation article because:
"While the facts presented were true, they have been wrongly taken in a malicious way by many...What the journalist cannot convey sometimes is his opinion of whether the witnesses are telling the truth or show immediately what links these witnesses have to the police....I am very concerned at several aspects of this case:
1. The police claiming that Reisig was pregnant and this had angered a jealous foreign boyfriend.
2. The claims by the police shooter that he had been out of town before the shooting, when other witnesses were saying the officer was drinking heavily that night in Pai.
3. The threats to prosecute Reisig for assault on police.
4. The automatic bail for the police gunman.
5. The fact that local police are investigating themselves.
6. The claims that the gun had discharged three times accidentally."^[16]

In a January, 2008 editorial published in Chiang Mai CityLife (submitted in December, 2007),^[17] anonymous author "A Tourist" eerily anticipates the January, 2008 shooting in his/her strongly-worded objection to excessive police actions in Pai:
"I have noticed another significant change over the last year, which is the reason for writing this letter. The method of law enforcement in this small town needs to be seriously examined....I accept that changes are necessary. I also agree that noise pollution should be carefully monitored and controlled, as should drug abuse and any other illegal acts or unpleasant kinds of behaviour, but we ought not to be scared to leave our homes (or guesthouses)! ... One Saturday in particular remains in my memory, where several police officers decided to inspect a party at a bar in town. I believe that they were looking for drugs. I along with many other tourists was especially shocked to see that one officer was carrying a machine gun...This kind of behaviour is likely to scare tourists and leave very negative impressions on them with regards to Pai town as a holiday destination...The police are also actively confiscating other vehicles, testing individuals at random for drugs and alcohol abuse, detaining owners of restaurants and bars for remaining open past the agreed time, and generally making a lot of noise in a relatively quiet town that did not appear to have many problems beforehand....The increased police presence is clearly visible and does not, in my opinion, make Pai town look like a place one would like to visit. There is also a general feeling of unrest here and I feel that it is quite obvious to the tourist travelling through. The police are unapproachable and menacing. This has a strong negative impact on the atmosphere here in Pai town. The previously friendly and welcoming town appears to have changed into a place where everyone is afraid to even walk down the street in case they are accused of doing something wrong. Should the police not be employed to protect civilians? Should they not be approachable in case I or someone else requires some help? They are certainly not even close to doing what a police force is meant to do."

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Pai, In Thailand

Pai (ปาย) is a small town (pop. 3000) in Mae Hong Son Province, Northern Thailand. It is part of the Mae Hong Son Loop, which is route 1095 from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son. The city is named after the Pai river.

Understand

Pai is a predominantly tourism-oriented town, offering a relaxed atmosphere with a broad traveller and backpacker scene. In early 2006 a sudden boom in guesthouse and bar construction has resulted in a great deal of spare capacity — capacity that is partially taken up by an increase in Thai people visiting after Pai was featured in a romantic Thai film. There are now around 200 guesthouses and hotels in Pai, and the city center has transformed into containing western style restaurants, souvenir shops, and bars that cater largely to the now significant influx of tourists and package tours.

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Get in

By road

Route 1095 which c

onnects Pai with Mae Hong Son (50km as the crow flies, but approx. 110km by road) and Chiang Mai (135km) is a very scenic route through the mountains which takes several hours (but worth it). It's a steep and windy drive, with lots of curves, so take a plastic bag and some motion-sickness pills if you need them.

By motorcycle

Route 1095 isn't as bad as people make it out to be. There isn't much traffic and you can hear the cars and trucks coming. If you're a little adventurous, rent a motorcycle in Chiang Mai and make the ride up to Pai. You can stop at the waterfalls and small towns along the way, and you'll really enjoy the trip, as opposed to being motion sick in a bus for hours, and being forced to stop at the driver's friends restaurants. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous and being on a bike makes you feel like part of the mountains. The locals will think you're crazy, and the construction crews get really excited when you come through. Make sure to take some warmer clothing on your bike, as it tends to get a bit chilly in the higher portions of the ride. As a novice rider, expect the trip to take around 5 or 6 hours, including stops at sites and restaurants along the way. aYa Service [1] offers one way rentals from Chiang Mai to Pai (or vice versa) with luggage delivery for free (as of May 2010). They will keep your passport and send it along with any baggage to aYa in Pai.

By bus

Buses and minibuses go to Chiang Mai (Arcade terminal) and Mae Hong Son. Regular public buses take around 4 hours and charge about 80 baht; minibuses take around 3 hours and tickets (sold by travel agencies) cost about 160 baht. One strategy is to get to Pai using the public bus so that you can get an idea as to how winding the road is and then you can decide if you want to splash out and get the mini bus back to Chiang Mai.

To feel less travel sick and save some money take the regular public bus. The scenery is lovely and the winding roads are much easier on one's stomach if you take things slowly.

From Chiangmai: Local Bus from Chiang Mai to Pai leaves the Arcade Bus Station, five trips during a day (07:00, 08:30, 10:30, 12:30, 16:00). The trip takes about 4 hours and there is a comfort stop at the small half way village of Mae Sae (very good Northern sausages and traditional chicken curry noodle soup available as well as other necessities food water toilets et cetera). Bus trip costs approximately 80 Baht.

Minibuses and Small passenger trucks (song taew) carrying a dozen people also leaves from the bus station as often as there are sufficient passengers or full paying passenger. (cost of private hire is approximately 1200 or share for approximately 150 Baht). The rear seats approximately 10 people and is open air. The view and wind in your face is pleasant, but not the occasional exhaust fumes.

By plane

The nearest domestic airport is in Pai. SGA Airlines [2] (codeshared by Nok Air [3] ) operate one or more daily flights between Chiang Mai and Pai, depending on the season. Flying time is 25 minutes. Passengers can make reservations and purchase tickets through the airlines' websites, their call centres or with a travel agent.

By train

The nearest train station is at Chiang Mai.

Get around

The town itself is best explored on foot. For exploring further afield, bicycles (40-100 baht/day) and motorbikes (from 100 baht/day) can be rented from many agents along the main street.

Motorbike taxis are also readily available.

As of late March 2010 (that was when I was in the Pai) I found it unwise to ride a bicyle for visits up the Ban Santhichorn and Lisu Village, not to mention the waterfall farther up! You will be dragging the bike almost all the way uphill. I read a guidebook mention that these places can be visited "on foot"!! (bad advice), and it was a sight of pity to see a couple of travellers coming up the hill (its a long way from the town centre), weary and still unaware of the farther long climb uphill to come.

If you can ride a motorbike, its best to hire one.

See

The town itself has no special sights; most people come simply for the relaxed atmosphere. Nearby attractions include hot springs and waterfalls, and a hilltop temple. There is also a wonderful canyon which provides the perfect spot for a sunset. This is a great spot to visit after seeing the WWII bridge built by Japanese-held POWs.

Poi Sang Long is a famous buddhist children ordaining festival, especially in Mae Hong Son. Thai Yai cultural dance show can be seen at the temple fair, in the night.

Do

Rent a bicycle or motorbike and visit one of the nearby waterfalls and hill-tribe villages. Pai is also a major starting point for organized trekking tours which are offered by every guesthouse and travel agent.

Whitewater rafting trips abound and there are numerous elephant camps. Additionally there are several hot springs in the area.

Go off road trough the mountains of Pai on a off-road motorbike tour. Up here it gives you better off road possibilities and against better prices than in Chiang Mai. Ask your guesthouse where to book.

Geocachers - there are two caches in the area [4] and [5]

Visit Tham Lod cave, approximately 55km from town on the road towards Mae Hong Son, 9 km from Soppong ( Pangmapha ). About an hour and a half on motor bike, or join a tour. Visit just before sunset (3pm-6pm) and see the thousands of birds descending into the cave for the night.

Elephant Antics

For several years now, travellers have enjoyed riding an elephant and concluding the trip with a romp in the Pai River. For this 'adventure', take as little as possible - you'll be enjoyably wet as the elephant is encouraged to shower you. Some operators - and there are several - are willing to take photo's of you while you enjoy the elephant antics in the river.

Waterfalls

Mae Yen - 7 kilometers out of town with no bikes allowed for the last 6km of that. Head East over the bridge heading out of Pai and follow the signs.

Pam Bok - on the road to Chiang Mai before Pai Canyon. Nice secluded waterfall with high cliffs surrounding it, making this a very cool place to escape the heat. Go for a relaxing bathe in the shade during the dry season.

Mo Paeng - West of the city past Santichon (Chinese refugee Village). The upper section of this waterfall is a natural water slide during the dry season. The rocks are smooth, just find a small section and slide on down like the locals do!

Hot Springs

The Tha Pai hot springs are about a 20 minute motorbike ride, after the Pai Canyon on the road to Chiang Mai. There's a 200B/person entrance fee to the national park. There's a free hot spring outside the park gate, but it's 80°C and, for obvious reasons, you aren't allowed to touch it.

Buy

Take a look at some of the hill-tribe members selling handcrafts.

Pai has an abundance of bookshops, some of which carry harder to find titles. Many are along the bus stop road, past Aya services.

Eat

For such a small town, there's an astonishing number of restaurants, most of them catering for needs/tastes of foreign travellers.

Burger House - The owner Ed & wife Jec offers 12 different real beef hamburgers, chili, sandwiches, specials, dinners, pork chops the size of a Clive Cussler novel, beer, wine, etc. Located 100 meters east of the traffic light on the main road.

Drop Inn - offers gigantic versions of Western dishes for 120-150 baht.

Good Life - Veggies and vegans will love this place. It serves organic and vegetarian foods at decent prices. It's not half bad either. The delicious breakfasts are great value.

Kin J - This little vegetarian restaurant between the main traffic light and the afternoon market serves a selection of purely vegetarian food daily. Get there early, as it's mostly sold out by mid-afternoon. It's only 25 baht for brown rice and two dishes.

Na's Kitchen - Debatably some of the best Thai food in town. Na still works in the kitchen everyday, serving delicious northern food to tourists and Thais. She speaks great English, and will even teach you a bit of Thai if you ask nicely. Na's is always a favorite of the long-stay travelers and the ones returning for a second, or third go at Pai.

- The Thai local restaunt of choice. Find it directly opposite the Pai District Office. Very few westerners to be found, but the menu is in English. Excellent Thai salads and sticky rice.

Curry Shack - Order a curry served in a coconut!

Charlie & Lek's - The vegetables used in the cooking are grown fresh on their own farm and the bar has a wonderful relaxed and romantic atmosphere. Located on the road to Chiang Mai, just before the police station. Look out for a sign with the restaurant logo - We Love Lettuce!

Drink

There are many Western-style bars, especially along the main street that leads to the Chiang Mai bus stop. There are also many tea and coffee shops, including herbal brews.

Bebop Bar is famous for live bands.

Reggae Bar is on the road to Chiang Mai, just pust Ting Tong. This hard to find bar is the place for hippie hang outs. Look for the people sitting around a camp fire with acoustic guitars and djembe drums. Live music every night sometimes provided by the customers - feel free to bring along your own instrument!

"Don't Cry Bar" Late night scene, open atmosphere, camp fire, pool table, good music.

"Bambo Bar" open till late(or early morning), nice cozy atmosphere, good food.

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Sleep

There's an abundance of guesthouses in Pai, most of them in the budget range (a bungalow goes for around 100-500 baht depending on amenities included). Mid-range options are available and there are now even luxury hotels, such as The Quarter.

Heading out of town there are swarms of bungalow setups.

At the bus station there is a map of Pai. Get this as it will show you the location of most of the guest houses (> 100 places). There is also a discount for motorbike rental.

For accommodation with lots of character try out a bamboo hut on the river. Head east from the bus station and either take the first left or continue straight. Either way you'll reach a bamboo bridge. Across the bridge you'll find plenty of cheap accommodation (about 200-400 baht per night).

Other accommodation:

Bann Nong Tao , Phone: +66081-328-3431, Email :ningsk74@hotmail.com, 136 Moo 6 Bann Huaypoo, Tambol Veangtai, Amphur Pai, Mae Hong Song 58130 Thailand. Cozy and comfortable houses with a eye-catching mountain view and warm atmosphere. Rooms are from 1,200 Bath(Oct-Jan) with breakfast / 500 bath (feb-sep) without breakfast. Tent rental and Bamboo Rafting along Pai River is also avaible.

Thale Mhog Guest House Pai [7] Pai, Maehongson 58130, Bungalows: 250 Bht, Cozy Travel Accommodation in Pai Thailand (Tel.: +66 81 901 0346).

Darling View Point Resort [8],+66-895596267 - across the river at the hillside 400 meter to town. Gorgeous views over Pai , river and mountain with sunset in the hammocks. Bungalow/room/dormitory from 230.- , Camping available 100 Baht p.P., hot shower , free WIFI , towel , linen.

Baan Suan Rim Pai [9] 108 Moo 3, T.Viengtai, Pai, Maehongson 58130, rooms: 1600-2800 Bht, air-cond bungalow in Pai Town.

Baantawan Pai, 117 Moo 4 Vingtai (By the river), ☎ +66-53698116, [10]. Peaceful location close to town and tourist attractions. Bungalows and rooms (fan or air conditioned), . Wifi available, also offers guided motorbike tours. from 400-2500 baht per night. edit

Pai Hotsprings Spa Resort [11], 84 Moo 2, Tambol Maehee, Amphur Pai, Maehongson 58130.

Mountain View Guesthouse [12],+66-861805998 - Located at the top of the hill, opposite Bebop. An unpretentious, peaceful guesthouse with gorgeous views overlooking Pai. Video room, bar and free entrance to Fluid swimming pool & gym. Bungalows with western bathrooms and hot shower. Prices start from 150.- Camping available.

Phi Chi, East past the main traffic light, past Burger House on the right. 'Phi Chi' is Thai for older brother. Approx. 300 Baht per night. Quiet, clean, hot water showers, western toilets, some rooms have TV and close to everything.

Pai Klang Na, just 1 km (0.6 mile) from Pai unique walking street. "Upmarket Lanna huts in a paddy field" - only seven thatched-roof cottages available in the middle of its private paddy field. 5 Deluxes and 2 standards - all with private bathroom...Free WIFI throughout the premise. All rates including local breakfast or ABF PaiKlangNa.com +66-(0)83-304-3300, .

Pai Laguna Tel +66 (0)81-7339055 or e-mail pailaguna@yahoo.com, Located to the west of the City about a 10/15 minute walk from the center, the Pai Laguna offers excellent individual bungalows for two people with a separate bathroom, and balcony overlooking the lagoon and with exquisite mountain views. Prices range from around 500-900 baht a day, with reduced rates for those looking to stay on a longer basis. Shh! You will also find discount vouchers for Pai Laguna if you eat at Charlie & Lek's restaurant (see Eat above).

Pai Praya Resort , 5 kms from Pai Town on the highway 1095, in moutain view with 12 units of fan and air-cond bungalows

Pai River Corner Resort, tel/fax +66(0)53699049, . A small upmarket boutique resort 300m east of the bus station on the river with luxury guest rooms in secluded gardens, river and mountain views and modern amenities including A/C, cable/sat TV, free wireless internet, jacuzzi, restaurant, bar, petanque and swimming pool.

Pai Villa , Tel: +66 53 115-270; Email: info@stayatbutterfly.com. A private 3 villa connected compound for daily or weekly rental. Located right in Pai town just up the road from Pai Hospital and walking distance to the evening walking street. All made of teak with 2 of the villas serving as bedrooms with king-size beds and the large villa is the living and lounge area. Bathrooms in all villas with outdoor showers in both the bedroom. Staff on-site to provide daily cleaning. Resort in same compound serves and delivers authentic delicious Thai food. A fantastic option for anyone interested in chilling with privacy yet right in town and yet luxurious. Rates from Baht 2-3,000/room/night.

Rim Pai Cottages, 99/1 Moo 3; +66-26730966 (fax. +66-22119656) is one of the more "upmarket" options in Pai and offers several kinds of wooden cottages starting at about 500 baht (double) including breakfast, which is served on a nice open terrace overlooking the Pai river.

Wang Chang Puek Resort , 18 rooms: 1800-2800 Bht, Fan and Air-cond bungalow, in Pai Town, 50 meters from the Pai river.

Contact

Pai has several Internet cafés, most on Thanon Ratchadamnoen and Thanon Rangthiyanon. They are a uniform 30 baht/hour for ADSL. There are some places with free Internet for customers of food and drink. There is also one place that accepts donations for use of a wireless connection. The Internet supply has improved in Pai at last.

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Life of Pai

Pai is so cool! You have to take it slow here and just hang out for a few days. There are loads of great little bars and cafes. Our favourite cafe is called Life’s Good, they have a great selection of teas and coffees. When you order a coffee you get the whole french press. Their bagels are excellent as well if a little pricey. We spent most nights in the Buffalo bar, which is this tiny bar and they have some guys that play everynight. The drummer mans the t-shirt shop next door and will play drums when the shop is quiet. We stayed at the Sun Hut which is about 10 mins out of town in the woods. The roads around Pai are best explored by motorbike, the scenery is excellent and there is little traffic and good road surface. We hired a bike for a fews days and took a trip out to the hot springs. The water is almost unbearably hot in the lower pools (think stepping into a roasting hot bath) and up to 80C at the source. There is a wonderful smell of sulphur which reminded me of some of the places in New Zealand. heavily for our last 2 days here so there was not much to do except sitting in coffee shops reading books (reading George Orwell’s Burmese Days), great! Oh and Angie wanted to buy so much clothes here. They have really nice stuff and all Angie’s style (she did buy one or 2 things here : )).

Really enjoyed Pai. If I was to have a one week holiday in Thailand I would start in Chiang Mai, then a few days in Pai and over to Mae Hong Son and back to Chiang Mai.

From Faff http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/faff/3/1216122900/tpod.htm

2010-07-26T14:08:00.002+07:00

Pai, Thailand – Rest and Relaxation

It’s hard to believe that one week ago, I was running around NYC with a winter hat on, and today I woke up in a beautiful hut in northern Thailand with a view of cows grazing on a rice paddy (paddie?). Basically, after all the flying, driving, hiking, elephant riding, and snake-show-cringing we had been doing, we decided we would do absolutely nothing and just sit by the pool all day. It was hot as hell down in Bangkok, but up here it’s only hot as hell during the days, and cold as hell at night.
This place (Bella Villa) is absolutely gorgeous. 14 raised wooden huts, and they’re not huts the way you think a hut would be – ours has a huge king bed, a nice tv, DVD player, huge slate tiled bathroom, perfectly manicured grounds, and an infinity pool – except that instead of the pool going off infinitely into the ocean, it goes off into a rice paddy. There are wooden swings overlooking the rice fields, and a separate hut for massages. Later we’re heading into town, which we discovered last night – it’s a really quaint town; lots of backpackers but also lots of locals. Very quiet.

Ugh. I had my first “squat toilet” experience last night; if you don’t know what I’m talking about, some bars and even hotels that don’t have Western toilets have these toilets that you stand or squat on when you’re doing your #2 thing. We were sitting at a bar in the middle of Pai, a twenty minute walk from our hut. And being the IBS sufferer that I am, well, I had to go. Which meant I had to go use this awful toilet in the back of the bar; there was no toilet paper, no spray thingy to clean myself. I’m not even going to tell you any more details, but just know it was horrifying. Oh, plus there were these drunken Australian backpackers waiting to use the toilet while I was doing my thing. They kept pounding on the door. It was a nightmare. I guess the only upshot of all this is that I got to use my squat muscles, something I hadn’t done since going to the gym back in NYC.
In Pai we met some drunken travelers who chatted us up; some of them had been doing the travelling thing for a couple weeks, some for eight months, some for ten years. It seems there are varying degrees of pride and showing off when it comes to talking about your travelling experiences. One guy said “I was a teacher for 32 years before I decided to become a beach bum; I earned it.” Another goes, “Oh, you said you guys are going to Koh Phangan? You should go to the Malaysian beaches; they are so much less developed than Koh Phangan.” Whatever. I guess even out in traveling land there is always “that guy” who wants to be the coolest kid in the room. But in this case he wants to be the coolest, drunkest, loudest traveler who has been to the coolest, most beautiful places for the longest time ever.

2010-07-26T14:07:00.000+07:00

Raft the Pai River

By Andrew Forbes

The province of Mae Hong Son, in Thailand’s far northwest, once had a reputation as”Siam’s Siberia”—a place of misty hills and deep valleys as far from Bangkok as it was possible to get. Today the same qualities make Mae Hong Son an ideal destination for whitewater rafting on the Pai River, a swift flowing watercourse swollen by the annual monsoons to provide some excellent sport. Stay in the small and isolated town of Pai, populated by both Thais and local hill tribes. The accommodation is surprisingly good, as is the wide choice of food (for some reason there’s an excellent Israeli restaurant!). Rafting facilities are good, and you’ll find expert advice as well.

original post @ http://away.com/tripideas/chiang-mai-rafting-300318.html

2010-07-26T14:04:00.001+07:00

Happy New year Thailand 2007

When summer season (March- May) starts coming in Thailand, one special thing that all Thai people are looking forward to is Songkran day (or Thai New Year

). This is a grand festival of Thailand which is celebrated on 13 â€“ 15 April every year. Songkran is the heritable tradition which represents gratitude, respect as well as relationship of family and society. On the first day morning (April 13th), people go to temple with their family. They go to pray, give food to monks, clean Buddha images by watering and decorating some Thai jasmine flower. Because we believe that this will bring good lick and prosperity to us and household for the New Year. Besides, people like to carry handfuls of sand to the temple which represents the dirt that they carry away on their feet during the rest of the year. This sand is then piled as pagoda and decorated with colourful flags on top. Later in the day people like to do community activities or stay with their big family to keep long relationship each other and cheerfulness for their rest of life. In some of Thailand, such as Chiang Mai Local Council provides Buddha images to be paraded on the main street of city, This encourage people, particularly teenagers and foreigners who donâ€™t go to temple in the morning can water them and pray as well. On the next day (April 14th) it called â€œGrand Songkran dayâ€, this day people like to go out to throw the water by Thai water bowls or splashed guns to passed by persons. However, this will do with respect and heartiness each other. And it becomes a fascination of festival and can encourage foreigners enjoy the festival as well. On the last day (15th) itâ€™s a time for cleaning and renewal, many Thais take this opportunity to give their home a thorough cleaning for New Year, and some of teenagers still enjoy watering as well. Songkran festival is not only Thai tradition or watering festival, but itâ€™s valuable benefit which you will get from participation. Why donâ€™t to book a trip Songkran festival in Thailand, then you will realise and definitely admire it.

thanks for the cute picture from cm108.com

2010-07-26T13:53:00.006+07:00

Here in this little town sitting right beside a little river,surrounded by beautiful forrest-covered mountains, is a little community of people who are stuck. They come only meaning to stay for a couple of days or a week and find themselves in the same hammock two months later. A sleepiness born from total and utter relaxation makes even getting up to order another fruit shake an ordeal. This is a place where no one asks you what you have done that day. They ask how you are, how you’re feeling in the world, because whether you’re here to smoke weed all day or to do some serious detoxing, everyone has that vibe. Everyone considers themselves people of the world, people who absorb things, people who are on some sort of personal quest. And so, in this world of floor pillows and beauty, surrounded by people with similar souls, it’s easy to just…stay.

For me, Pai was exactly what I needed. I was fresh from the craziness of Bangkok and the frustrations of getting my Russian visa taken care of, my body still pretty worn out from the travels of the last three months. Here I was able to free myself from worry and the strain of figuring out what to do next. In the mornings I did two hours of yoga with “Mama”, a crazy but fun Thai woman who fed us fruit afterwards and told us stories of her youth. For lunch I would fill myself up with rice, tofu, and veggies from the vegan restaurant down the street. Sometimes I would go back for more yoga, but sometimes I would just take a nap or read. As the days passed, both my body and my spirit became rejuvinated. I felt healthier with my vegetarian diet, my daily yoga classes, and the days of idleness. My last days, I pampered my body with a full massage and sauna treatment, then pampered my tastebuds at BB’s Wok and Roll cooking class. As the time for departure approaches, I feel the urge to just stay as so many others before me have. I feel the tug of a promised life of leisure and health in a place where inner beauty is just as important as outer beauty. And who knows, if I didn’t have a plane to catch to China in a couple of days, I might have become one of the stuck. But then again, even “pairadise” could get boring if wandering’s in one’s blood…