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Updated on 12th September 2011 Monday 8:05AM
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Pai Town
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Ban Yai Nang
MAE HONG SON COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Morning in Pai
MOSQUE IN PAI
TEMPLE IN PAI
Tham Lod (Through Cave)
Chinese Yunnan Culture Center,
Pai
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ALL ABOUT COFFEE - an artist's cafe by the road Watcharee and her husband together with several friends are artists from Bangkok who run several of the shops. "All about Coffee Cafe" was an exceptional example of functional installation art. This coffee shop was a detailed wood structure, refurbished with rustic sophistication. Every bit of furniture had been built by Wat and her husband with hand tools during the low season. The artwork was hung with quiet precision that reflected their grace and good taste. Across the street was the Tea shop and the Mit Thai boutique that had works by the proprietor. |
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PAI TOWN
Pai town thatched-roof bamboo huts, Buddhist temples and a Muslim mosque. Pai is in Mae Hong Son Province. 50 miles/80 km north of Chiang Mai. A misty town on the Myanmar Border. At 600 meters above sea level, surrounded by high mountains. It lies along the Pai River with a population around 3,000. Pai Town in Mae Hong Sorn Province,
North Thailand
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whose speakers fill the town with the call to prayer several times a
day. |
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Artist in Pai Town |
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| Pai, a tiny town halfway between
Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son.
Halfway between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son, the mountain road makes a winding descent into a large green valley carpeted with rice paddies and fruit groves. Mountains rise on all sides and
butterflies flit along the streets. Here you'll find a tiny town
called Pai, named after the river that runs through the valley.
3 hours drive from Chiang Mai along scenic Highway 1095, with its
endless bends, this popular tourist destination only a decade
ago was an insignificant rest-stop on the gruelling journey onwards
to Mae Hong Son.
What was once a hamlet in a picturesque, lushly forested valley
is now a burgeoning little town which seems more than ready to shed
its backpacker-haven image and embrace mass tourism. |
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| It wasn't until 2006, when Pai was featured in a popular
romantic-comedy film, that it began to attract large numbers of
domestic holidaymakers who today comprise the vast majority of
visitors. Now seen as a gold mine for entrepreneurs and land speculators, the place has undergone a series of major infrastructure upgrades, wreaking a transformation which has precipitated something of a crisis of identity. Scores of hotels, guesthouses, restaurants, coffee shops and bars have sprung up along with Internet cafes, travel agencies and car-rental firms. There are 24-hour convenience stores on the main street, banks and currency-exchange booths all over. An increasing number of small and medium-sized luxury resorts plus live-music venues has brought colour but also sweeping change. During the peak season one has to deal with noisy traffic, crowded streets and all the commercial hue and cry of a boomtown. It's time to admit, perhaps, that those seeking peace and quiet might be better off going elsewhere. Despite all the unpleasant changes, however, the locals still display unconditional generosity and remain as friendly toward visitors as ever. Ironically, what little remains of Pai's former bucolic charm is to be found in venues opened by artistically minded entrepreneurs who have preserved some aspects of the local culture and architecture. Rows of traditional wooden homes now house stylish coffee shops, art galleries and boutiques selling creative souvenirs and quaint ornaments and decorative items. Pai still offers a wealth of outdoor activities and travellers can choose to explore the countryside by bicycle, motorbike, car - on elephant back, even - or on board one of the bamboo rafts which ply the Pai River. Venture beyond the outskirts of town and a multitude of attractions await, from sites of historic interest and religious structures to waterfalls and hot springs. Situated about three kilometres west of the town centre, Wat Nam Hoo is a must-see. The temple's ordination hall houses a 500-year-old, bronze Buddha image called Un Muang, revered by locals because of a supposedly miraculous feature: the statue's hollow topknot can be opened to reveal naturally occurring "holy water" within. Another old temple that has stood the test of time is Wat Phra That Mae Yen, built on a hill east of town. From its tranquil compound one gets a panoramic view of the whole district, making this an ideal vantage point from which to watch the sun rise and set. Pai's proximity to the Burmese border makes it a great place to gain insights into other cultures, too, since Lahu, Lisu and members of several other ethnic minorities have settled in nearby upland areas. Descendants of Haw migrants from Yunnan also live in the neighbourhood and their villages boast houses built in a traditional Chinese style, mouth-watering Yunnan delicacies, handicrafts, tea shops and a wooden, non-motorised ferris wheel. Mass tourism has had both positive and negative effects on the lives of Pai's original residents. And while some observers see all this development as "progress", believing that it will inevitably lead to a new age of prosperity for all, many view it as the sad loss of a traditional way of life and point out that much of the profits are going to outside investors. But whatever one's point of view, it is hard to deny that Pai remains a rather special town, a place to which people are tempted to return again and again |
| Tham Lod (Through Cave) | Ban Yai Nang |
You can stay on the banks of the Pai river, of further a field in the Pai hinterland.
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| Bandar Seri Begawan | Simanggang | Pai Town | Kundasang | Sandakan | Balung | Kota Kinabatangan | Tawau | Semporna | Kunak | Lahad Datu | Kuching | Kota Kinabalu | Labuan | |
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INDEX : Chiang Mai City : Tuesday, September 13, 2011 07:57:30 AM |
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