Pai is a small tiny town halfway between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son

Pai located among 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.

Pai a speck of a place with main roads (all four of them) offers you a rich bohemian atmosphere where you can collect your thoughts and commune with nature.
In Pai, every day is a lazy Sunday. And if you're ready for it, Pai offers you a wide palet of activities. Never a dull moment.

This site is intended to help you in finding your way in and around Pai. in North Thailand, between Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son on Route 1095. The surrounding district is Amphoe Pai. Both are named after the Pai River.


Pai is a predominantly tourism-oriented town, offering a relaxed atmosphere with a broad traveller & backpacker scene. In early 2006 a sudden boom in guest-house and bar construction has resulted in a great deal of spare capacity - capacity that is partially taken up by an increase in Thai people visiting after Pai was featured in a romantic Thai film.

You can get here by motorcycle, bus, plane, train


Route 1095 which connects Pai with Mae Hong Son (50km as the crow flies, but approx. 110km by road) and Chiang Mai (135km) is a very scenic route through the mountains which takes several hours (but worth it). It's a steep and windy drive, with lots of curves, so take a plastic bag and some motion-sickness pills if you need them.

By motorcycle

Route 1095 isn't as bad as people make it out to be. There isn't much traffic and you can hear the cars and trucks coming. If you're a little adventurous, rent a motorcycle in Chiang Mai and make the ride up to Pai. You can stop at the waterfalls and small towns along the way, and you'll really enjoy the trip, as opposed to being motion sick in a bus for hours, and being forced to stop at the driver's friends restaurants. The scenery is absolutely gorgeous and being on a bike makes you feel like part of the mountains. The locals will think you're crazy, and the construction crews get really excited when you come through. Make sure to take some warmer clothing on your bike, as it tends to get a bit chilly in the higher portions of the ride. As a novice rider, expect the trip to take around 5 or 6 hours, including stops at sites and restaurants along the way. aYa Service [1] offers one way rentals from Chiang Mai to Pai (or vice versa) with luggage delivery.

By bus

Buses and minibuses go to Chiang Mai (Arcade terminal) and Mae Hong Son. Regular public buses take around 4 hours and charge about 80 baht; minibuses take around 3 hours and tickets (sold by travel agencies) cost about 160 baht. One strategy is to get to Pai using the public bus so that you can get an idea as to how winding the road is and then you can decide if you want to splash out and get the mini bus back to Chiang Mai.

To feel less travel sick and save some money take the regular public bus. The scenery is lovely and the winding roads are much easier on one's stomach if you take things slowly.

By plane

The nearest domestic airport is Pai. It now has daily service from Chiang Mai. Tickets can be bought at Aya Services in Pai, or from the ticket office in the Chiang Mai airport. It's near the Air Asia office, on the far end. Chiang Mai to Pai - SGA departs daily from Chiang Mai at 10:55am and arrives in Pai at 11:30am. Return flights are at 11:45am arriving at Chiang Mai at 12:20pm.

the nearest domestic airport accepting flights from Bangkok is Mae Hong Son Airport, which has direct flights to/from Bangkok (Thai Airways and PB Air).

The nearest international airport is at Chiang Mai.

By train

The nearest train station is at Chiang Mai.

ย�