Pai...what's the verdict?

You have no idea how lucky you are by avoiding that place. It really has become a mess and often attracts not so very nice tourists. Did you notice the difference in the tourists in Soppong? I sure did.

Yup, there were hardly any to start with! Soon as we left the GH for the day we were the only farang in sight

Cheese_Monkey: Compared to what you experienced in your short visit in Pai. What were you overall feelings ? Try to explain in some detail the differences between to two places. Agree Soppong is superior and hopefully never changes. I would be willing to pay far more for a guesthouse just so they would not attract the Pai crowd.

Didn't stay in Pai so can't really comment there. Passing through just saw it rammed with people that seemed to of come straight from KSR, with all the associated tourist restaurants/travel agents/bars etc. It's nice to do the touristy thing occasionally, its usually pretty hassle free. Soppong is a bit more adventurous I think. The surrounding area did seem pretty nice around Pai though, but Soppong was equally good. The big main road running through Soppong was a bit of a drawback, but the morning market on one day narrowing the road down to a single file crawl made up for it.

Well i totally agree that Pai is nothing more than KSR north with all the typical tourist crap and scams. Just glad i visited Pai years ago before the masses arrived. You would not recognize it before. Just curious when the Starbucks and Burger King will arrive.

Okay Statey we got your message - you hate Pai.

The only reason I'd not be going there now is the smog which kinda takes away from the fun of riding a motorbike up and around there. Pai's main tourist spike is December when thousands of Thai tourists come up north to experience "cold season" but they pretty much go home in mid January and then it's a good time to be there. Now that we're into smog season not so much scenic-wise although you can get some killer sunsets. Pai town itself has become relatively built-up compared to the "good ol days" before the road was completely sealed and soft tourism crept in. It can be depressing sitting at some roadside cafe exchanging stares from other tourists, but guess what - you can get up, get on a bike and easily get away and have a fun day out. Ride another 45km out the Mae Hong Son road past a great viewpoint (visibility provided) and down a hairpin road to Soppong and the Tham Lod cave. Won't be surprised if this turns into the next "Pai" but it's still pretty nice.

The "touristy" places are only as bad as one makes them out to be, sit around the tourist trap central vicinity and bitch about how touristy it is (duh!) or make the effort to get even slightly off the beaten path and you may be rewarded. Sitting around hating a place and the people who choose to be there is a stupid way to waste your time. Statey ;-)

Please make that interesting point to all the others who dislike what Pai has become. I,ll make sure NO ONE is allowed to have any negative comments about Pai. EVERYONE YOUR ON NOTICE NO NEGATIVE COMMENTS ABOUT PAI ! You are only allowed to have positive comments.

Well someone's gotta compensate for your "glass totally empty" take on anything to do with travel and tourism ;-)

Soppong is a bit of a hole. Tham Lot is nice but after that happy to keep driving.

Even before tourism there was nothing much at Pai . I never understood what made it so popular , and now its become a regular tourist town . Tham Lod (Lot) village (8 kms from Soppong) has better scenery and its not just the bird/bat cave that is the main attraction - there are many good walks with beautiful scenery (as well al a lot of more remote caves). The trekking from there is more interesting than from Pai.