Me and my husband really fancy going up to Pai around January for a few days. We have a honda dream motorbike and was thinking of travelling on this but not sure if it would be too long a journey and what the road is like from here to Pai.

Was also wondering if this is the same road as Chang Dao, if so would love to visit here too and would break the journey up for us.

Any ideas or advise would be appreciated.

The turn off for Pai is before Chiang Dao. If you ride it, be careful. Every time I ride that road I come across farangs on rented bikes that have taken a spill. Many sandy patches and potholes. Very twisty.

Edited November 26, 201114 yr by wimpy

It is twisty and you must watch for oncoming traffic, the same as anywhere here. My friends and I are "big bike" riders, but just for fun, we will make the trip on scooters a couple times a year. It is not a problem and great scenery, with plenty of new coffee shops and restaurants when you feel you need a break. Just take your time and enjoy yourselves.

Chiang Dao would be out of your way, and you should save that for a separate trip.

Make sure your oil is topped up if not change the oil in your bike before you set off and check the tires have air in them and that the brakes are good then you should be fine just take your time and don't drive to fast and stay to the left as much as you can .

did it a couple months ago on my wave 110i with my friend, i weigh about 60kg she about 50kg. roads are good quality most of the way, took about 4 hours i think with 3 stops. we hit rain too, but we had rainsuits.

I am planning on going this week I have to go to Chiang Doa to pick up a friend then on to Pai does any body know about how long from CM to CD then on to Pai I will be on a honda Phantom any advice would be helpfull plan to leave CM around 8am

two to 3 hrs of a winding rd to pai have fun.you will not be going fast thou

I am planning on going this week I have to go to Chiang Doa to pick up a friend then on to Pai does any body know about how long from CM to CD then on to Pai I will be on a honda Phantom any advice would be helpfull plan to leave CM around 8am

The turn-off for Pai is roughly halfway between CM and Chang Dao. It's an hour & a bit from CM (70kms), mostly four lane. Pai is 130kms from CM, around 3 hours. You can do it in less if you enjoy getting your knee down, but would probably be more like 4 hrs if you stop couple times and don't like getting your knee down. That's direct to Pai, so estimate the full trip would be 200kms ish and will take 5-6hrs for a Phantom rider. A better bet would be to get your friend to bus or songthaew it to Mae Taeng, which is where the turn off is for Pai. They run CDao-CM all day (probably for about 20 baht to Mae Taeng) and that would perhaps save you 90 mins or so.

OP, with this, you wouldn't be breaking up the journey by going to CDao first as the turn-off for Pai is about equidistant from CM and CDao, so you'd still have the same distance to Pai from there. Easy enough to do in one hit anyway (even on a mountain bike ), and like Silverhawk says, it's fun on a plastic pig. Plenty of places to stop for a bite or coffee and a good time of year weather wise. Leave at 8 ish and get there for lunch.

Also, if you're going direct to Pai from here (CM), there's a newer turn-off a couple clicks before Mae Taeng... easy to see as it's well signposted, at a set of lights and goes off left at a 45-degree angle. The other chap going to CDao first will need to take the right turn within Mae Taeng (for the old spur). That's also at a set of lights and near a 7-11, but has a smaller sign.

Edited November 26, 201114 yr by jackr

Be careful the CARS are crazy on this road always coming way over onto my side going there and coming back ,we have done this trip many times and aways there are atleast half a dozen guys trying to set new land speed records on this extremely curvy road , but well worth the trip

Edited November 26, 201114 yr by fezzy

Be careful the CARS are crazy on this road always coming way over onto my side going there and coming back ,we have done this trip many times and aways there are atleast half a dozen guys trying to set new land speed records on this extremely curvy road , but well worth the trip

That's a good advise...if you feel good on the motorbike,you should have no problems,but it is...a very curvy road !....fun in the way ...be safe...

beware of

1. speeding mini bus

2. cow and cow dung

3. me LOL!

I'm hoping to walk to Pai some day, starting somewhere outside of Chiang Mai. I guess it will take maybe three days. Does anyone know if I will have trouble finding places to sleep and places to buy water? I can carry a 2-3 liters at a time. Thanks.

Did the trip a couple of times recently.

About 2 week ago, and a week prior to that.

One long section of the road gets extremely pot-holy. My last time some holes were being repaired.

When you hit your first pothole section i advise being cautious, because will continue for some time afterwards. Some areas a bit gravelly too.

Not my favorite road for riding, but i go for the ride, not the destination, so generally kick up a bit of speed.

Nice scenery, so if your not in it just for the ride, take it slow and enjoy it for its scenic value.