Go PAI – The Night Market

(คลิกที่นี่ วันที่1 ภาษาไทยค่ะ)

Fly to Pai?  I’ve heard and wondered, why most Thais like to go to Pai during December and January?!?!?!
This Christmas seemed like a good time for us to visit and check it all out for Somethingjam.com’s fans!

But why Pai? Pai is a small town in northern Thailand, Mae Hong Sorn Province (near the Myanmar border).

About 5 years ago Thai people started talking about Pai, we go crazy for cold places during Dec- Jan, winter time. Especially, if we can find frost on the flowers or in the trees!

Pai is featured as a romantic get-away for Thai couples, maybe due to the Thai-made romantic movies from here or just the atmosphere where you can collect your thoughts and commune with nature (?)
Some good info from our local tour guide, Pai is Well-known among backpackers for its relaxed atmosphere, the town is full of cheap guesthouses, souvenir shops, and restaurants.

Started at Bangkok, we flew to Chiang Mai by AirAsia.com (Nok Air and Bangkok Airways are operated flights to Chiang Mai as well).  Then take Kanair, the small airline with about 12 seats to Pai (at the time of this writing, only Kanair flies to Pai)

 
We were very close with the pilots…

 

It’s a small airplane but it’s not small service – we still got a food box for our 25 minutes flight!
Feel like we come with our own plane (with 2 handsome pilots!!!).
With Pai airport sign…

No wonder! why we came here by such a small plane, it’s a really small airport here in PAI…
(Left) Pai Airport, (Right) Baggage Claim in Pai Airport!!!


Where we stayed: Montis
Montis Deluxe (3 nights)
http://www.montisresort.com I wasn’t quite sure where to stay in Pai.  It was somewhat expensive on Agoda.com. We read the comments on that site and decided that “Montis” was the best choice for us at $204/night – very expensive but it’s worth it!

Montis is nice, high-class and full services hotel.  They provide a van services to/from The Pai Night market area and some nearby attractions for free during your stay…It even had free Wi-Fi and delicious breakfast!
 
But if you are an adventure tourist (like me), Montis will be too comfortable, and too close with downtown…

From my trip, they offerred the rides from Montis to:

;1. Wat Nam Hu, 2. Yunnan Chinese Village and 3. Night Market…(for Wat Nam Hu and Yunnan Chinese Village, please continue reading on Full day trip in Pai (coming soon)…

Pai was once a quiet market village but nowadays Pai is most popular for the  walking street and night market.

But you will see a lot of unique decorations! 

And many Hand made products…

Maybe something fun on the body paint…and I did some too!!!

Food is all the way along the street from local food to international food.   The most popular is grilled corn which is about 15-30 baht… I liked it too! 
Real Pai dessert “Khoa Puk” made from sticky brown rice after grilled will sprinkle with sweetened condensed milk and sesame.

The most famous food in Pai is Ro-ti (I would call the muslim pancake).  There are so many roti shops in Pai and each shop will provide many flavors.  I recommend the Cheese roti!!!

Don’t miss, the flying paper balloon, the popular thing to do in the North. 

We believe that this is a way to let go bad luck, and let it fly away…
It’s totally fun and cool at Pai’s walking street, and it made the perfect way to end every day here!

 

See Day2: Trip from Pai to Mae Hong Sorn
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