Where did the tourists go in Pai, Thailand?

[sletraveler]

6 hours ago, Buba Ho Tep said:

I need to make that Nepal trip soon before I get too old.  Suggestions?  Where to go, what to see. 

Visited for two weeks in March.  Would love to go back.   Stayed 4 nights in Pokhara.  Beautiful and its not boring.  Also went a few hours via local bus in the mountains to stay in Dam Dame village for some authentic Nepalese village life.   Soooooooo different from Thai villages.   Flew to Pokhara and took bus back to Kathmandu.  

Edited July 4, 2019 by sletraveler

[ZeVonderBearz]

I always have fun in Pai. Some good bars, love the street food on the night market and best of all you can stay up drinking till silly hour in that one outdoor bar with DJs and fire dancers etc. Nice change from CM for sure

[NorthernRyland]

2 hours ago, PerkinsCuthbert said:

As i recall, it was first put on the map by Joe Cummings, author of Thailand on a Shoestring in the first Lonely Planet edition way back in the 70s or early 80s. I did the circuit by motorcycle from Chiang Mai back in the late eighties when it was still pretty much untouched by tourism. I haven't been back so I can't speak for now, but I believe at one time Cummings lived there - perhaps he still does. In any event, it's a well-worn path from unspoilt, bargain paradise to rapacious, over-touristed, trinket-selling cliche, so perhaps that is what has happened - who knows? I don't.

It would break your heart to see it now. I got to live there one year before "Rak Jang" totally f'd it up beyond all recognization. It's bad now, really bad.

[Selatan]

9 hours ago, Buba Ho Tep said:

I've seen a handful of Chinese here too.  And never saw many in the past.  I don't think this is on their bucket-list of 'go-to' places.  The Chinese seem to get off the plane and into large tour-buses.  Highway 1095 isn't a bus-friendly stretch of road. Vans at best - long tour-buses aren't going to navigate the curves. Flights into the airport spotty.  I don't envision Chinese flocking to Pai anytime soon.

I wonder if you can differentiate between an ethnic Chinese from Malaysia/Singapore/Indonesia and a Han Chinese from Mainland China.

 

Most Malaysian Chinese are trilinguals, We can read and write in Malay, English and Chinese. And many of us can also speak Chinese dialects such as Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka and of course, Mandarin. The Indonesian language is very similar to Malay so it is easy for us to spot an Indonesian Chinese because most of them can only speak Indonesian.

[Scouse123]

22 hours ago, mania said:

 

No way would there be such a reaction in tourist sales so quickly. That flag incident just happened Sunday

 

Pai has been on drip feed for awhile now & Thailand in general is headed in the same direction due to obvious reasons.

 

+1

 

And I don't believe for a minute you would get such a silly over reaction from the Police, when they themselves brought no charges, and said it was purely ' high jinks ' a storm in a teacup, nothing at all.

 

Jeez, if they closed down for a silly incident what would they do in the event of a REAL CRISIS?

 

The OP obviously asking people that don't know, who feel compelled to give an answer, and any old reason will do!

Edited July 4, 2019 by Scouse123

[ZeVonderBearz]

12 hours ago, Selatan said:

I wonder if you can differentiate between an ethnic Chinese from Malaysia/Singapore/Indonesia and a Han Chinese from Mainland China.

 

Most Malaysian Chinese are trilinguals, We can read and write in Malay, English and Chinese. And many of us can also speak Chinese dialects such as Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka and of course, Mandarin. The Indonesian language is very similar to Malay so it is easy for us to spot an Indonesian Chinese because most of them can only speak Indonesian.

Usually there's a huge difference in behaviour. Mainland Chinese are loud and have zero sense of their surroundings or the people around them. 

[orang37]

23 hours ago, Don Chance said:

It's easy to find apartments with kitchen living room, 1-2  bedroom for 300-400 a month.

Thanks, that would be US $ ?

 

~o:37;

 

मैं थोड़ी हिंदी बोलता हूं

[Don Chance]

1 hour ago, orang37 said:

Thanks, that would be US $ ?

 

~o:37;

 

मैं थोड़ी हिंदी बोलता हूं

Yes even some are around $150-200 for a smaller one.

[Selatan]

10 hours ago, ZeVonderBearz said:

Usually there's a huge difference in behaviour. Mainland Chinese are loud and have zero sense of their surroundings or the people around them. 

That's not exactly true. I noticed that whenever there is a big group of us, whether consisting of relatives or friends, we Malaysian Chinese tend to be quite noisy too. You can experience it for yourself by visiting any popular Chinese restaurant in Malaysia. Can you really blame us for our strong sense of exuberance during get-togethers? It doesn't bother us as we are kind of used to the noise but I can understand why others may be offended.

[Buba Ho Tep]

On 7/4/2019 at 2:28 PM, WinnieTheKhwai said:

It's because Pai is too crowded;  nobody goes there anymore. 

 

(To be honest it sounds like heaven to have Pai be a quiet town again.. or maybe that's just me.)

Friday.
The city wakes up at 3pm.  Shakes of the cobwebs by 5pm.  Considers opening at 7pm.  Gets into gear at 8pm.  Starts shutting down at 10pm.  The entire energy of the city is concentrated in front of one bar playing live music like it's Woodstock - 100 meters of activity and the rest of the town is dead.  Guaranteed business shutdown at 12 sharp compliments of the BIB. 
There's Pai, Thailand - July 5th 2019 - in a nutshell.

Very quite. 

[Buba Ho Tep]

Yep.  According to the local this hot season was so bad that even the local Thais are boycotting the mushrooms sold in the markets. A season not to be remembered, but probably coming again in 2020.

[Buba Ho Tep]

On 7/4/2019 at 5:34 PM, Knocker33 said:

It's the new norm for Thai tourism. Dead. People have had enough of all the cr@p rules and regulations and have found better, cheaper, friendlier places to spend their money

And a strong Thai Baht as their spending power with the ever decreasing exchange rates and every increasing prices make Thailand as less and less attractive place to vacation. 

[Buba Ho Tep]

On 7/4/2019 at 6:57 PM, PerkinsCuthbert said:

As i recall, it was first put on the map by Joe Cummings, author of Thailand on a Shoestring in the first Lonely Planet edition way back in the 70s or early 80s. I did the circuit by motorcycle from Chiang Mai back in the late eighties when it was still pretty much untouched by tourism. I haven't been back so I can't speak for now, but I believe at one time Cummings lived there - perhaps he still does. In any event, it's a well-worn path from unspoilt, bargain paradise to rapacious, over-touristed, trinket-selling cliche, so perhaps that is what has happened - who knows? I don't.

I think you may be right.  Next year I'm heading elsewhere.

[Buba Ho Tep]

23 hours ago, Scouse123 said:

 

+1

 

And I don't believe for a minute you would get such a silly over reaction from the Police, when they themselves brought no charges, and said it was purely ' high jinks ' a storm in a teacup, nothing at all.

 

Jeez, if they closed down for a silly incident what would they do in the event of a REAL CRISIS?

 

The OP obviously asking people that don't know, who feel compelled to give an answer, and any old reason will do!

Actually the OP is getting his info from business owners in downtown Pai.  I left the downtown area an hour ago.  It's like the plug had been pulled.  The owners say the cops will shut them down a 12pm or in about 25 minutes.  I didn't hang around to check it out.  Past my bedtime nowadays.

[JingerBen]

12 hours ago, Selatan said:

That's not exactly true. I noticed that whenever there is a big group of us, whether consisting of relatives or friends, we Malaysian Chinese tend to be quite noisy too. You can experience it for yourself by visiting any popular Chinese restaurant in Malaysia. Can you really blame us for our strong sense of exuberance during get-togethers? It doesn't bother us as we are kind of used to the noise but I can understand why others may be offended.

Just like large family groups of Italians or Greeks or any others who haven't lost their sense of vitality and kinship, a heartbeat and a pulse.

The social and economic conditions in many countries have destroyed - or are destroying - family life.

Let them enjoy themselves while they still can.

[daoyai]

Pai Jazz nd Blues fest this past weekend, great fun, well attended.

[fhickson]

pai was cheesy as hell when i went. tourist trap with people selling i love pai tv shirts and young arty type thai couples. saw one foreigner guy with no shirt near the river who looked like an opium addict.

[hawksway]

The Particulate Matter crisis has caused thousands of serious respiratory illnesses affecting Thais and Foreigners alike. The Thai Authorities face the same situation every season yet are too cowardly to do their duty and enforce emergency regulations. Several years ago I visited Pai and my health deteriorated due to excessive environmental burning of this Hillsides and PM 2.5.

 

Pai will never become a major tourist attraction. It's a place to get on your bike and explore the rolling green hills but like much of the North, if the pollution is not firmly dealt with will become a Ghost Town of deserted buildings contributing a dent to the Tourist Economy.

[puck2]

10 hours ago, hawksway said:

The Particulate Matter crisis has caused thousands of serious respiratory illnesses affecting Thais and Foreigners alike. The Thai Authorities face the same situation every season yet are too cowardly to do their duty and enforce emergency regulations. Several years ago I visited Pai and my health deteriorated due to excessive environmental burning of this Hillsides and PM 2.5.

 

Pai will never become a major tourist attraction. It's a place to get on your bike and explore the rolling green hills but like much of the North, if the pollution is not firmly dealt with will become a Ghost Town of deserted buildings contributing a dent to the Tourist Economy.

The same pollution situation as in Chiang Mai and in the Mae Hong Son Province. In our village (MHS-Prov.) the smoke starts in March. Although the military regime doesn't allow the fires before a special date, the people - and not only the hilltribes - don't worry about this order. Knowing this, we leave our village and go to the beach in Hua Hin or/and fly to Germany, avoiding the smoke. After the first rain, clearing and cleaning the air, we enjoy it going back.

 

Now, not far away of the N1095, clean air, not so much rain as in most parts of Thailand and even in the North. Also not so hot. And it as quite as in the heaven. Maybe, have not yet been there!

 

Pai has got an upswing by the already mentioned early evening movie. Then the typical situation, one or a few have been successful building guesthouses, many many hundreds did the same. Now you see most them being empty most time of the year. The movie made Pai so busy, but it nearly doesn't "work" any more for the Thai people.

 

Farangs come here because it was praised in the farang guide books. Yesterday we have been in Pai before high noon and saw a lot of young farangs. I guess, the reason for this are the school-/university holidays in Western countries. Cannot tell you anything about the so called night life.

[bkk6060]

In Pai now got in yesterday with the gf.

Last time I took a van up here.  This time a motorbike.  Much better and more fun with a bike.  Stopped for a coffee half way up.  Sunny day and clear all the way.

I would say it is medium low with people, which is ok for me.  The street food area was fairly busy last night.  Mostly old hippies and backpackers many bars and restaurants slow.  Several just closed, maybe for the holidays.

Looks like another good weather day today.

This place is for relaxing and a slower pace.  Walk around, go on some mb rides, see a few sites, eat, sleep.  No malls or major highways.

Two days will be  just fine for us.

Not a bad place at all. It is what it is.

 

Edited July 16, 2019 by bkk6060

[HaleySabai]

On 7/4/2019 at 12:36 AM, orang37 said:

Are you living in Nepal ? I've considered moving there.

 

thanks, ~o:37;

Don't forget your N95 mask.