Pai is tiny. You can walk through the village in ten minutes, and on the way you will already meet someone who was supposed to leave yesterday. Still, there is more on your list than fits in your days, because almost everything you want to see here is outside the village, spread across the valley.
A few things really belong on the list: a day on a scooter, the light on the canyon late in the afternoon, an evening on the Walking Street. Other spots are a great extra for anyone who stays longer and has the time to really explore the valley.
So where do your Pai days go, and what do you save for next time?
How long you end up staying in Pai is a question in itself, and we answer it on our Pai page.
A day riding a scooter around the valley
For us this is the most important highlight of Pai, and it is not even a place. Almost everything you want to see here is scattered around the village: rice fields, waterfalls, viewpoints, a cave. On a scooter you string them together in one day and decide for yourself where to stop.
A scooter costs about €4 a day and you rent one around the Walking Street. The classic loop is Pai Canyon, the Bamboo Bridge, the Land Split and Pembok waterfall, and they are all within half an hour’s ride. If you come in the middle of the dry season, the waterfall is a bit of a trickle, by the way: during and just after the rainy season there is a lot more water.
Never ridden a scooter before? Then this is not the place to learn. The mountain roads here are the reason so many backpackers walk around with bandages on their legs. Pick a tour or get someone to drive you.
Our verdict: the way to see Pai
Pai Canyon around sunset
Narrow sand ridges between the hills, steep drops on both sides and a view over the whole valley. It is the best known spot in Pai, and for once the best known spot deserves it. Late in the afternoon the sand turns orange and the whole rim fills up with people doing nothing else at all.
Entry is free and it is a short ride from the village. There are no fences and the sand on the ridges is loose, so wear shoes you can actually walk in and stick to the wide paths. Find your spot well before sunset, because after that it gets busy.
Walk on past the first viewpoint. Most people hang around near the steps, while a few hundred metres further along it is quieter and the view is the same.
Our verdict: absolutely
Sunrise above the sea of mist
Pai sits in a valley, and in the cool months a layer of mist hangs there overnight. Stand on a viewpoint above the village before sunrise and you look out over a sea of white with only the mountain tops poking out, while the sun slowly breaks through. This is the view travellers come back for.
It works best from November to February. In December and January it is around ten degrees down in the valley at sunrise, so bring a jumper and check the night before that your scooter has enough fuel. Yun Lai Viewpoint is the easiest place to see it.
On the way back, stop at the first roadside coffee place that is open. For us, that half hour is the best part of your whole visit.
Our verdict: sort the jumper and the fuel the night before, and this is the most beautiful morning of your Thailand trip
The Walking Street from five o’clock
During the day the centre of Pai is almost sleepy. Around five the stalls roll out onto the street and that same street turns into a market full of street food, with live music drifting out of the bars next door and everyone who spent the day out in the valley back together.
For a euro or two you can eat your fill here. Do not sit down straight away: walk the whole street first, order something small at three or four stalls and eat as you go. For such a small village the choice is absurdly good, with a Thai market, vegan cafés and Israeli restaurants all mixed together.
Stick around after dinner. The bars in the centre are small, there is nearly always someone playing live music, and within ten minutes you are sitting at a table with other travellers.
Our verdict: every single evening
Tubing on the Pai river
You lie in a rubber ring and drift down the river, past the mountains and the rice fields, stopping at bars on the water along the way. In Pai it has grown into one of the most sociable afternoons you can have, with DJs, foam and a group of backpackers you will run into again on the Walking Street that night.
There are two versions backpackers book: Jungle Tubing with DJs and a foam party, and Tipsy Tubing with local DJs, guides and water sports. Both pick you up and drop you back, so there is nothing to organise yourself.
Know what you are signing up for. This is a party on the water, not a quiet nature trip. If quiet is what you are after, head to the hot springs or keep the morning for yourself.
Our verdict: great fun if you are up for an afternoon of messing about on the water
The Sai Ngam hot springs
Natural hot springs among the trees, eighteen kilometres outside the village. The water is exactly the temperature where you sit in it for an hour without doing anything else, and after two days of riding mountain roads that is just what you need.
Entry is about €5. Tha Pai is closer to the village and costs the same, but Sai Ngam is the quieter of the two. Go in the morning: that is when it is calmest, and later in the day you are sitting in hot water while it is already thirty degrees outside.
It does not need to be more than this. You come to do absolutely nothing for a few hours, and that is the whole point.
Our verdict: perfect for a slow morning
The Bamboo Bridge at Boon Ko Ku So
A narrow bamboo bridge that runs straight across the rice fields ten kilometres south of Pai. It was originally built so monks could walk more easily between the village and the temple, and only later did travellers discover it.
Entry is about €1.50. Go early in the morning or late in the afternoon, because in the middle of the day there is no shade and you are walking across open fields in full sun. When the rice fields are green, this is the most beautiful stop on your scooter loop.
Count on half an hour, not half a day. Walk to the end, have a drink there and ride on to the next stop.
Our verdict: a lovely stop on your scooter loop
Got time to spare in Pai?
The waterfalls around the valley
There are several, they are fairly similar, and in the dry season there is not much water in them. Pick one that sits nicely on your scooter loop, Pembok or Mo Paeng for example, and you have seen the best without cramming your day. If you ride during or just after the rainy season, they are all a lot more impressive.
One more viewpoint on the way
The roads around Pai are dotted with lovely places to pull over, with a view across the valley and usually a coffee stand next to them. Nice to grab if you are riding past anyway. What makes Pai fun is stopping where you did not plan to stop, so do not plan your day around them.
Ride yourself or book a tour
If you can ride a scooter, this is the perfect place to head out on your own: you decide how long you stay anywhere, and half of what you remember you find along the way. If riding is not an option for you, a tour takes you to the same places without you having to organise anything. Just do not book three in a row, or there is not much of your own pace left.
An afternoon with no plan
There is a reason so many travellers stay here longer than planned, and it is not the number of sights. Keep at least one afternoon completely empty for a pool, a long lunch or a coffee with a view over the mountains. That is as much a part of Pai as the canyon.
Our top five in Pai
Only got a few days? These are the five we would do no matter what:
- A day riding a scooter around the valley, past the canyon, the Bamboo Bridge and the Land Split
- Pai Canyon around sunset, early enough to get a spot on the rim
- One morning before sunrise at Yun Lai Viewpoint, above the mist
- The Walking Street from five o’clock, and not just for one evening
- Tubing on the Pai river, if you are up for a sociable afternoon on the water
Still got time after that? The Sai Ngam hot springs are the nicest way to lose a morning. And if you have a whole day, ride on to Tham Lod cave, where you go under the mountain on a raft with a lantern.
So what do you really have to do in Pai?
Everything on this list is worth your time, but Pai is not about sights: there is no palace, no temple complex and no museum to queue for. This list is here to help you choose on a morning when you cannot decide, and to keep your days loose.
If we had to pick just one thing: rent that scooter. Ride into the valley without knowing where you will end up, stop at the first coffee place that looks good and turn around as soon as the road stops being fun. €4, a whole day, and it is exactly what this place is about.
And set your alarm once. Ride up in the dark, wait for the sun to break through the mist, then head back for a breakfast you have earned. When you think back to Pai a year from now, that is the morning you will remember.
