Things to do in Mae Hong Son Province
-
Thai Adventure Rafting
This French-run outfit leads one- and two-day trips. On the way, rafters visit a waterfall, a fossil reef and hot springs; one night is spent at the company's permanent riverside camp. Thai Adventure has two offices along Th Chaisongkhram.
reviewed
-
Baan Benjarong
This converted house serving central Thai dishes is where the locals come for a ‘nice’ Thai meal. Dishes like stewed, salted crabs in coconut milk, and spicy banana flower salad are delectable. Out the back are tables with views of the rice paddies.
reviewed
-
All About Coffee
This tiny wooden place was probably the first business to do the cutesy ‘bohemian’ style that now dominates much of Pai. Come here for eye-opening coffee drinks and the best French toast in town. Yummy open sandwiches are made with homemade bread.
reviewed
-
True Bee Gym
Offers scholarship in Thai boxing just across the Nam Pai. Lessons are held twice daily (8am to 10.30am and 4pm to 6.30pm).
reviewed
-
A
Tour Merng Tai
This outfit mostly does city-based van tours and cycling tours, but can also arrange treks.
reviewed
-
Big's Little Cafe
Big does largely English-influenced Western dishes, from bacon butties to burgers, not to mention breakfasts and a tasty homemade sausage.
reviewed
-
Yunnanese Restaurant
This open-air place in the Chinese village of Ban Santichon serves the traditional dishes of the town's Yunnanese residents. Standouts include màntŏ (steamed buns), here served with pork leg stewed with Chinese herbs. There are several dishes using unique local crops and other dishes involving exotic ingredients such as black chicken. Or you could always go for the excellent noodles, made by hand and topped with a delicious mixture of minced pork, garlic and sesame. The restaurant is in an open-air adobe building behind the giant rock in Ban Santichon, about 4km west of Pai.
reviewed
-
Nature Education Centre
About 9km north of Soppong is Tham Lot (pronounced tâm lôrt and also known as tâm nám lôrt), a large limestone cave with impressive stalagmites and ‘coffin caves’, and a wide stream running through it. Located near the caves is the Nature Education Centre, from where you must hire a gas lantern and guide for 150B (one guide leads one to four people) to take you through the caverns; visitors are not permitted to tour the caves alone. Tham Lot is a good example of community-based tourism as all of the guides at the cave are from local Shan villages.
reviewed
-
Thom's Pai Elephant Camp
The most established company and with an office in town. You can choose between riding bareback or in a seat, and some rides include swimming with the elephants – a barrel of laughs on a bouncing elephant in the river. Rides include a soak in the hot-spring-fed tubs afterwards.
reviewed
-
Salawin National Park
This national park covers 722 sq km of protected land in Mae Sariang and Sop Moei districts. The park is heavily forested in teak, Asian redwood and cherrywood, and is home to the second-largest teak tree in Thailand. There are numerous hiking trails, and it’s also possible to travel by boat along the Mae Nam Salawin to the park’s outstation at Tha Ta Fang. The main headquarters are 6km from Mae Sariang and have bungalow-style accommodation (300B to 1200B), which can be booked via the Royal Forest Department (Tel: 0 2562 0760; www.dnp .go.th).
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Tham Pla Forest Park
This provincial park, 16km north of Mae Hong Son, is centred around Tham Pla, or Fish Cave, a water-filled cavern where hundreds of soro brook carp thrive. The fish grow up to 1m long and are found only in the provinces of Mae Hong Son, Ranong, Chiang Mai, Rayong, Chanthaburi and Kanchanaburi. The fish eat vegetables and insects, although the locals believe them to be vegetarian and feed them only fruit and vegetables, which can be purchased at the park entrance.
A 450m path leads from the park entrance to a suspension bridge that crosses a stream and continues to the cave. A statue of a Hindu rishi called Nara, said to protect the holy fish from danger, stands nearby. It'…
reviewed
-
Baan Phleng
A branch of the excellent Mae Hong Son restaurant of the same name, this popular place does a mix of northern Thai and Mae Hong Son–specific dishes. To go truly local, try the ‘fern salad Maehongson style’, tender ferns par-boiled and mixed with a dressing combining sesame oil, dried chili and garlic, or ‘pork and tomato chili paste’, the Shan dish known locally as nám prík òrng. There’s an English-language menu with photos if you feel you’re treading in unfamiliar waters.
reviewed
-
Thai-Japan Friendship Memorial Hall
At the northern end of town, a collection of rusted military trucks marks the Thai-Japan Friendship Memorial Hall. Here weapons, military equipment, personal possessions and fascinating black-and-white photographs document the period when the Japanese occupied Khun Yuam in the closing weeks of the war with Burma. After they had recovered, some of the Japanese soldiers stayed in Khun Yuam and married. The last Japanese soldier who settled in the area died in 2000.
reviewed
-
Laap Khom Huay Pu
Escape the dreadlocks and tofu crowd and get your meat on at this unabashedly carnivorous local eatery. The house special, and the dish you must order, is lâhp kôo·a, minced meat (beef or pork) fried with local herbs and spices. Accompanied by a basket of sticky rice, a plate of bitter herbs and a cold Singha, it's the best meal in Pai. The restaurant is on the road to Mae Hong Son, about 1km north of town, just past the turn-off to Sipsongpanna.
reviewed
-
Pooklon Country Club
This self-professed 'country club' is touted as Thailand's only mud treatment spa. Discovered by a team of geologists in 1995, the mud here is pasteurised and blended with herbs before being employed in various treatments (facial 60B). There's thermal mineral water for soaking (60B), and on weekends, massage (per hour 200B).
Pooklon is 16km north of Mae Hong Son in Mok Champae District. If you haven't got your own wheels, you can take the daily Mae Aw-bound sŏrng·tăa·ou, but this means you might have to find your own way back.
reviewed
-
B
Dragon Sabaii Tours
Emphasises eco- and cultural tourism primarily in the Mae La Noi area just north of Mae Sariang. This new outfit offers a variety of tours aimed at giving a genuine introduction to the local way of life and hill-tribe culture. Activities range from nonintrusive tours of hill-tribe villages to homestays, 'volunteerism', and cooking and farming with hill tribes, all of which are designed to benefit local communities directly.
reviewed
-
Nature Walks
Although the treks here cost more than elsewhere, John, a native of Mae Hong Son, is the best guide in town. Treks range from day-long nature walks to multiday journeys across the province. John can also arrange custom nature-based tours, such as the orchid- viewing tours he conducts from March to May. John has no office; email and phone are the only ways to get in touch with him.
reviewed
-
C
Mae Sariang Tours
Mae Sariang Man, as the owner of this company prefers to be known, is an experienced trekker who leads environmentally conscious and community-based treks and rafting trips in the jungles and national parks surrounding his native city. To ensure that the communities receive what they deserve, trekkers can opt to pay all expenses outside of the guide fee directly to the villagers themselves. He can be contacted at Northwest Guest House.
reviewed
-
D
Crossroads
This friendly bar-restaurant is a crossroads in every sense, from its location at one of Mae Hong Son's main intersections to its clientele that ranges from wet-behind-the-ears backpackers to hardened locals. Oh, and there's steak.
reviewed
-
Tha Pai Hot Springs
Across the Mae Nam Pai and 7km southeast of town via a paved road is the springs, a well-kept local park 1km from the road. A scenic stream flows through the park; the stream mixes with the hot springs in places to make pleasant bathing areas. The water is also diverted to a couple of nearby spas.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
Pai Traditional Thai Massage
This long-standing and locally owned outfit offers very good northern-Thai massage, as well as a sauna (cool season only) where you can steam yourself in sà·mŭn·prai (medicinal herbs). Three-day massage courses begin every Monday and Friday and last three hours per day. The friendly couple that do the massages and teach the course are accredited and are graduates of Chiang Mai's Old Medicine Hospital.
A few local businesses near Tha Pai Hot Springs have taken advantage of the healing thermal waters.
reviewed
-
Poodoi Namfaa Tour & Trekking
This new outfit can arrange various outdoor pursuits, all led by local Musoe, Lisu and Karen guides. The emphasis is on two-day rafting trips along the Nam Khong and Nam Pai rivers (1500B per person, at least four people, all-inclusive). Two-day treks start at 800B per person (at least two people). The office is at the far western edge of town.
reviewed
-
E
Ban Phleng
This popular open-air restaurant does a handful of very tasty local dishes – you're safe going with anything that says 'Maehongson style' on the English-language menu. Ban Phleng is just south of town – look for the white banners at the side of the road.
reviewed
-
Pai Cookery School
With a decade of experience, this outfit offers a variety of courses spanning three to six dishes. The course typically involves a trip to the market for ingredients. Contact a day in advance.
reviewed
-
Nong Beer
The atmosphere at this extremely popular place is akin to a food court (you have to exchange cash for tickets, and everything is self-serve), but it's a good place for cheap and authentic Thai eats ranging from kôw soy to curries ladled over rice. Open until they run out of food – usually about 8pm.
reviewed
