Pai...what's the verdict?

People (usually young backpacker types) that Pai is incredible and a must visit. But from what I've read there's not really that much to Pai, a mini Khoasan road apparently with some activities nearbye. Opinions?

I'm in CM and considering doing some sort of day trip that involves going to see some hill tribes, are these trips any better / cheaper in Pai, as I suppose that could give me reason to go.

Cheers!

Pie is cheapish. One big street full of shops u can get in cm or bkk. Its cheap for nice accomodation with good views. Most of people in pai are toursits. U have hot springs pai canyon n a few other things. I would call pai a toursit traps

It is still beautiful, worth a visit, but don't expect too much. As harvie says, it is definitely a tourist trap.

The crap hotsprings are 400 baht. A puddle with some rocks. Before the masses arrived it was free. Tribes ? Last time i had to pass through there I saw two drunk Lisu women. That was a first. Nothing more than Khao San Road north. Read the interesting articles on the web about the bar brawls. You will be shocked if your seeking quiet. It really does,nt look any different than some tourist trap you would see in the states. The main drag is wall to wall signs. A mini Las Vegas . Really sad how such a once beautiful peacful place got soooo screwed up..The only difference there are Thais and far more rip offs. Hill tribes forget it. Go see for yourself and report back. Take the red fan bus from the Chiang Mai bus station. Last i checked it was 68 baht. Get there early. The bus ride will be a good example of the collection of freaks you will experience in Pai.

hire a car - can do chiang dao, pai and soppong in 3 days easy

Doesn't sound too promising. It being beautiful isn't reason enough for me to go I don't think. Linguise, I don't drive. Cheers for the information so far.

Pai valley is ok but the major highlight is tham lot cave

Personally I rate Khong Chiam in the Ubon province much higher. That's one cool village/town.

Sorry it ain,t that beautiful .If you consider a valley now full of guesthouses. Take a look at some before and after pictures. and see for yourself what a zoo it has become. Trust me you will not like it. If you don,t care for the Khao San Road/FMP/Koh Phi Phi crowd you will hate it.

The hot springs are 200 baht a person if you don't speak Thai. If you do, they'll let you in for 40 baht.

During the peak season, Pai is a bit over run by hippie tourists. If you go later when it is the low season, it can be very pleasant. I don't think of Pai as the city. There are a few good restaurants, but it's not the reason to go. It's the surrounding ares that make it wonderful. There are countless places a bit out of town that are quiet and serene to stay as well.

Mae Hong Son is 80% hill tribe. Just because they aren't dressed in traditional outfit doesn't mean they are Thai.

I count myself lucky that we didn't get off the bus in Pai. Headed straight to Soppong and Tham Lod, bliss. The surrounding karst is amazing to go and explore.

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.

LINK to Cave Lodge owner John's local area map of Tham Lod.

Tham Lot is the main attraction. Soppong is basically a hole like anything Dave tries to talk up.

NO NO NO ! .

THAM LOD (LOT) IS THE NAME OF THE VILLAGE NOT JUST THE CAVE. You can stay at Cave Lodge at Tham Lod which is as I said 8 kms from Soppong . I don't talk up Soppong , I said many times I think its just a highway town ( I hope Poidog doesn't see this).
Linguse just went to the cave wiithout realising there was a village there , and he knows nothing about the walking possibilities around Tham Lod.

If you stop in Pai for a day or two or three, you'll definitely just see those bummer KSR type things. I ended up there for 10 days last month (just because I got comfy at Pai Chan Cottages, beautiful nature around, nice bungalows for a decent price, and I had no time constraints). After a few days you can get into the laid-back vibe, meet the kind of people you'd personally like to find while traveling and start to see them around each day, eat great healthy food, take day trips to a new waterfall or hot spring each day, and be treated to beautiful natural surroundings. Buried beneath all the touristy crap, there is a good music scene, with traveling musicians bonding over open-mic nights and people who stay for weeks or months and create small communities. If that's your thing, you'll like it.

Yes, it is very dry out there right now and the locals burn the hillsides, creating a lot of smoke and smog. But the tourist masses are probably dying down as it gets hotter.

I personally wouldn't do that crazy drive for just a day or two! I also didn't like the drawbacks mentioned here by the naysayers, but I dug the place overall.