Many Pai Businesses Closing Down

[Ulysses G.]

Tha Amazing Dennis, Thailand's most famous farang, hand-reading, fortune teller is just back from Pai and reports that restaurants, bookstores and one of Thailand's best pizza parlors are closing because there are so few farangs going there this year.

Pai has become a big deal for Thais in the last few years and most of the Farang druggies and hippy types that used to hang out there have been driven out. Weekends are packed with Thais, but weekdays are totally dead.

Going on a Monday might be fun for expats who like to avoid tourists and maybe rent some bargain rooms.

Edited January 9, 2009 by Ulysses G.

[keo]

Tha Amazing Dennis, Thailand's most famous farang, hand-reading, fortune teller is just back from Pai and reports that restaurants, bookstores and one of Thailand's best pizza parlors are closing because there are so few farangs going there this year.

Amidos?

Shame if it is - their pizzas are amazing. Should relocate to Chiang Mai!

[Ulysses G.]

Yes and I agree. sabaijai was right about them!

[keo]

I was in cheesy pizza heaven when I had the 5 cheeses!

do remember being one of only about 4 customers in the restaurant though. that was back in june last year.

How exactly are the hi-so Thais driving out the druggy farangs by the way? cattle prods?!

[cmsally]

Just about every Thai and their grandmother (literally) seemed to be in Pai over New year and that included the weeks before and after. Very few farang in sight.

I was wondering how this would effect Pai with so many weekend/public holiday visitors in a short time span, so perhaps this is the answer. Difficult to run businesses when trade is only in such a short period. And a big change of clietele from a few years ago.

[Ulysses G.]

How exactly are the hi-so Thais driving out the druggy farangs by the way? cattle prods?!

Reportedly, The police have been stopping people on the street and making them pee into a bottle. The hi-so Thais just happened to have started coming to Pai around the same time.

Edited January 10, 2009 by Ulysses G.

[Greenside]

How exactly are the hi-so Thais driving out the druggy farangs by the way? cattle prods?!

BKK Investors=High Land Prices=High Rents=Higher Store Prices=Time to Move On.

Where will they settle next?

[bunta71]

UG...Were you referring to American hamburger,former fellow alaskan supercub pilot Dennis?

[Niloc]

What a relief!! The druggies have all been driven back to Chiang Mai where they came from, I hope they take their peddo mates with them!!

[Ulysses G.]

UG...Were you referring to American hamburger,former fellow alaskan supercub pilot Dennis?

Joe Cumming's sidekick Dennis.

[bunta71]

Bought several burgers and breakfasts ay All-American Hamburgers there in Pai this year. Every time I was the only customer....not sure if thats the same Dennis, but next time you are in Pai, he's got some good eats

[Ulysses G.]

It is not the same fellow, but your hamburger guy also had good spaggetti if I am correct.

[bunta71]

And free stories with your meal. The guy pays attention to his food and is a real character. Not crazy, but "colorful"

[tigerbeer]

heard it too that Pai is booming with tourists. alas the Bangkokians. so what? as long as it does good for the locals who try to run businesses there. bring some money into the economy. doesn't mean if farang businesses cannot do well that locals should suffer as well. good on them. lets have more thais and farangs up north here. the more the merrier.

it is THAI land after all. and just to add that the Duke's (a farang restaurant) has a lot more thai's eating there now as compared to a year before. Good on Dave!

[jcon]

Is Dennis the guy with the hamburger place that has all kinds of semi-inappropriate pictures on the wall of his old self and young (very young) Thai girls?

I was there last year and the man seemed nice enough, talkative - but when my girlfriend and I looked at the pics he had on his wall, we were weirded out. Burger was good, though. Never went back...

Yeah, so fine, well-heeled Thais are making Pai a destination - that shouldn't drive out the business owner unless he is unwilling to adapt to a changing environment, in which case he wouldn't be such a great businessman. This new group of Thais has the potential to bring in a lot of cash into Pai... Yes, at the cost of it's former glory as a 'private' destination - but that's life and business here in Thailand. And Pai is still dam_n pretty. As long as the sex tourists and prostitutes don't make the trek over there, it's fine by me.

[lannarebirth]

Sorry to here about business closures, but frankly I have never understood the allure of Pai. As a destination, IMO, it is less pretty than Chiang Dao or the countryside surrounding Chiang Mai or Chang Rai. Over the pass to Pang Mapha is kinda nice though.

[Ajarn]

My experience this year with the Thai tourists was that they were in force everywhere

In the mountains on every road I saw out of cangwat plates. They caused incredible traffic in Chiang Mai, one trip into downtown took me hours to wangle my way home. I was happy for the businesses that got ther business, but I was also happy to stay off the roads downtown. I have never seen so much traffic.

And Sunday night, they were heading south in a large mass

[lannarebirth]

My experience this year with the Thai tourists was that they were in force everywhere

In the mountains on every road I saw out of cangwat plates. They caused incredible traffic in Chiang Mai, one trip into downtown took me hours to wangle my way home. I was happy for the businesses that got ther business, but I was also happy to stay off the roads downtown. I have never seen so much traffic.

And Sunday night, they were heading south in a large mass

That's what I saw as well. Never seen so many people in Chiang Mai at once.

[angiud]

Sorry to here about business closures, but frankly I have never understood the allure of Pai. As a destination, IMO, it is less pretty than Chiang Dao or the countryside surrounding Chiang Mai or Chang Rai. Over the pass to Pang Mapha is kinda nice though.

Drug

[Loaded]

Sorry to here about business closures, but frankly I have never understood the allure of Pai. As a destination, IMO, it is less pretty than Chiang Dao or the countryside surrounding Chiang Mai or Chang Rai. Over the pass to Pang Mapha is kinda nice though.

Drug

All the weirdos went to Pai. I think it's quite an ugly town and the valley isn't that beautiful. Mae Hong Son is far more beautiful and none of those creeps from Pai there.

[Ulysses G.]

Bought several burgers and breakfasts ay All-American Hamburgers there in Pai this year. Every time I was the only customer....not sure if thats the same Dennis, but next time you are in Pai, he's got some good eats

Are you sure that you don't mean "Ed" who has a Thai wife and sits out front of his shop all day. It is between Angie's and the 99 Baht book store that went out of business. It is said that he has great BLT's and meatloaf sandwiches.

Edited January 10, 2009 by Ulysses G.

[adjan jb]

maybe rent some bargain rooms.

Maybe cheaper weed

Reason for edit: just wanted to add that I haven't been to Pai since 1990.

Edited January 10, 2009 by adjan jb

[WinnieTheKhwai]

It's a problem though; a lot of tourists (backpackers) visited Chiang Mai primarily because it's a logical stop on the way to Pai. Many like Chiang Mai town once here, and stay around. If Pai is becoming less attractive (higher prices, more touristy/resorty, an overall less 'vibey' adventurous atmosphere) then there may not BE an alternative in the North near Chiang Mai, meaning people would skip the North (and Chiang Mai) entirely. That would be bad news.

Of course there are other places, like Mae Kampong (The treetop gibbon thing) but it's a bit more up-scale and not large enough to accommodate people in any kind of volume.

Edited January 10, 2009 by WinnieTheKhwai

[Ajarn]

Of course there are other places, like Mae Kampong (The treetop gibbon thing) but it's a bit more up-scale and not large enough to accommodate people in any kind of volume

Where is the darn place? They tell me left at Baan Huey Kaaw, but there is no left...

I've been there twice, looking for it.

[wayfarer108]

I think the informant may be mistaking the traditional after-New-Years-rush closing for permanent closing. During the Xmas-NY rush the town was swamped and many business owners completely ran out of stocks, which may have swelled the post-rush vacation.

On the other hand, a few businesses in Pai have permanently closed due to the downturn in tourism in general but one should emphasize, no more than in Chiang Mai or Bangkok, where the same thing is happening. In fact tourism in Pai is thriving compared to most places because it has become less dependent on foriegn tourism over the last three or four years.

Anyway, for a proper assessment, check out Pai a month from now when the after-rush vacation is over.

[Johpa]

It's a problem though; a lot of tourists (backpackers) visited Chiang Mai primarily because it's a logical stop on the way to Pai. Many like Chiang Mai town once here, and stay around. If Pai is becoming less attractive (higher prices, more touristy/resorty, an overall less 'vibey' adventurous atmosphere) then there may not BE an alternative in the North near Chiang Mai, meaning people would skip the North (and Chiang Mai) entirely. That would be bad news.

I believe that many of the backpacker tourists have already voted with their wallets and have moved on to Laos and Vietnam.

[mcgriffith]

I post this only as a member of the forum.

A bit more than a year ago (Dec 2007), I did a brief 5 day trip, clockwise out of CM, to Hot, Doi Inthanon, Mae Sariang, MHS, Pai, etc.

Was planning on staying in Pai, but arrived a bit early in the day from Mae Hong Son, around 1 PM.

Just caught a sleepy, dusty vibe off the place as I drove slow through town. After the earlier near spectacular scenery between MHS and Pai, I was underwhelmed at the vista in the Pai valley.

Reminded me of Baja California Norte y Sur around 1980. Kinda getting way too hip, and crowded all at the same time. A lot of signs in English, and a very high % of visible people on the street were notably farang. Nothing wrong with that, per se, but it was rather like landing in JFK 2 hours after departing Pnom Penh.

I just jetted through, and came back to CM.

I do plan however try to make the Reggae Festival (I have zero connection; only a genre aficionado) Nov 24-25 in Pai.

See you there!

[ajarnpim]

I post this only as a member of the forum.

A bit more than a year ago (Dec 2007), I did a brief 5 day trip, clockwise out of CM, to Hot, Doi Inthanon, Mae Sariang, MHS, Pai, etc.

Was planning on staying in Pai, but arrived a bit early in the day from Mae Hong Son, around 1 PM.

Just caught a sleepy, dusty vibe off the place as I drove slow through town. After the earlier near spectacular scenery between MHS and Pai, I was underwhelmed at the vista in the Pai valley.

Reminded me of Baja California Norte y Sur around 1980. Kinda getting way too hip, and crowded all at the same time. A lot of signs in English, and a very high % of visible people on the street were notably farang. Nothing wrong with that, per se, but it was rather like landing in JFK 2 hours after departing Pnom Penh.

I just jetted through, and came back to CM.

I do plan however try to make the Reggae Festival (I have zero connection; only a genre aficionado) Nov 24-25 in Pai.

See you there!

as just a membraine of fer ferrom id like to sir gest that was absoloute <deleted>

[bunta71]

Are you sure that you don't mean "Ed" who has a Thai wife and sits out front of his shop all day.

My mistake UG. you are correct the ex alaskan pilot's name is Ed.

Sits out front puffing cigarettes...killer burgers

[jaideeguy]

Yeah, 'Where have all the flowers gone?'. Used to visit pai in the 90's and enjoyed the uniqueness of the people and and diversity of the food, not to mention the low prices and funkiness of the place.

Then, last year we did the loop and visited Pai with the intention of staying overnight, but the charm was gone and replaced with overpriced BKK YUPPY botique guest houses and shops and an uptite vibe. We did the same as Mcgriffith and continued on to CM.

Will miss the place and I do wonder where the backpackers have gone. They sure don't seem like they will fit into the new Pai and I'm sure that is the intention of the new BKK YUPPY botique hotel owners.....drive out the low life!!

More and more places will go in that direction as the economy gets tighter and local establishments will have to depend on local Thai tourism....which is 90% holiday related and dead when there are no holidays.