“Molly… How long have you been here?”
My new wide-grinned acquaintance, a 22-year-old shirtless man living in Florida, looked up at me inquisitively as I pranced with my hula hoop on an uneven bamboo dock that was nestled by the sparkling river along the back-acre lawn of Paradise Bar.
“Umm… I don’t know, actually,” I responded carelessly, suddenly realizing I had genuinely lost of track of time during my stop in Pai, the laidback mountain town in northern Thailand near the border of Myanmar. “I think I’ve been here, maybe a couple weeks?”
We were gathered on the outskirts of the main town, enjoying a sun-kissed afternoon by the water with a couple friends, singing classic songs with a guitar-yielding traveler from France and a Brazilian mermaid who carried the voice of an angel. Everything flowed so naturally, and I frolicked my heart out on the dock, feeling deeply connected to the sky, sun, trees, water, and earth like never before. I was barefoot with soil-stained soles, skin tanned to a crisp, unbothered by the mosquitoes and sweat of the 90-degree afternoon.
I suppose I blended in well, feeling so at home with my surroundings, that it appeared I had been in Pai for a long time.
“Have you ever heard of the Pai-hole?” he asked me.
I turned to look at him and paused for a moment, taking a break from flinging my hoop through the soggy air for hours, wiped the sweat off my brow, and exhaled.
“No, I haven’t…” I replied unconvincingly, denying what I suspected what was to come. “What is it?”
Florida was laying down on his back, peering up at the rich purple-colored sky with dazed, half-open eyes.
“The Pai-hole is what you get stuck in,” he explained dauntingly. “It’s when people come to Pai to visit for just a moment, but they end up getting sucked in. Backpackers will travel across the world, spending a few days in each place, hopping all around Southeast Asia, the mountains, the beaches, the islands,” he continued. “But when they come to Pai… well, they forget about all the plans they had, the rest of the trips they were going to make. They never leave.”
Shit, I thought, as I looked around at the overgrown grass, the last of the dusk light seeping into darkness. He’s right. I’ve gone complete, full dirty hippie, singing kumbaya songs to Mother Nature until the wind chill hits at night. I haven’t talked to my folks or friends back home in at least a week. I’ve halted all thoughts of my next buses, trains, or flights to catch, countries to visit. I don’t even wear sunscreen or bug repellant anymore in this jungle village under the scorching South Asian sun. I can’t walk down the streets of Pai without running into handfuls of friends and locals I know, which is always a delight. I spend my nights parading with the circus freaks and dancing to the beat of (literal) drums. I’m living 100% in the present moment, and I absolutely love it.
But I wouldn’t admit it openly yet, the slightest tinge of anxiety creeping in as night fell, thinking about truly getting sucked in to this supposed black hole.
“Nah,” I countered, starting to sway with my hoop again. “That just sounds like something people made up!”
On my right, France suddenly looked up from his guitar, even though he had stopped playing a while ago.
“It’s a real thing,” he stated matter-of-factly. “You’re already in it.”
* * *
A few days after that evening, I woke up from my Pai slumber and decided to visit the neighboring area of Mae Hong Son for a new experience, trekking even deeper in the mountains – but I will always remember the beautiful moments shared in this psychedelic village close to my heart.
So what is it about the elusive Pai? What makes this city so compelling? Here are a few reasons why I believe this friendly town draws in droves of backpackers every year, making you never want to leave.
The community is full of creative artists and performers.
Do you love art, music, dance? Pai has it all. The difference between Pai and other cities, however, is the encouragement of creative expression without any judgment. It’s a great place to get your foot in the door, a chance to try performing in front of an audience for the first time, or to gain experience learning or teaching. This is why Pai fosters a creative hub for aspiring artists to play without hesitation.
Open mic nights offer a space for poets, musicians, and all types of dream-weavers to share their gifts to a supportive crowd. Fire shows and circus acts pop up at different hostels and venues every week. Live jazz, reggae, and acoustic performances are popular staples at restaurants and bars in town. Dance music DJs spin evening sets at open air pubs and the epic jungle parties.
In the related realm of creative spirits, Pai is a flow-centric town with yoga, acro-yoga, and ecstatic dance gatherings for all us new-age backpackers. And as I’ve mentioned before - if you’ve never even tried it, this is the perfect place to start!
You get to know everyone in town quickly.
Being a relatively small town, with the main roads being Walking Street and Bar street, you get the opportunity to run into the same people everywhere you go, even after just a couple days of visiting.
More importantly, the chill atmosphere between locals and foreigners is more inviting and welcoming compared with the disparity in Southern Thailand as many travelers have noted.
When it’s easy to make friends, you feel at home – even across the world. I also stayed in several different hostels which allowed me to meet more and more people.
Unfortunately for me and others staying in town for extended periods, I would get very close to new friends and then they would leave for other places, resulting in heartbreak every 3 days! But they all sheepishly said the same thing: “I wish I was staying longer.”
The vibes are trippy, hippie, chill, man.
Beyond the dreadlocked backpackers and vegged-out nomads, Pai emits psychedelic vibes in its own light, not just because of the visitors! Though it’s not the same “as it used to be years ago,” as the nature of change usually is, it’s still totally a place to trip out and take a breath. Chill.
Whether it’s lounging at a neon hidden hideout like Spirit Bar, whispering under the stars at Pai Yard Guesthouse, dusting in the depths of the Jungle Zone bashes, sitting in silence under the protection of the looming White Buddha, or gazing out into the orange-hilled sunset at Pai Canyon… there is a mystifying presence in the smokey air that you can’t quite put your finger on.
It’s a nature lover’s dream.
Several waterfalls rush through the corners of Pai, donating a generous dose of pools to cool off in the heat. Hiking trails overgrown with exotic plants hug your limbs as you trek through the misty jungle. The painted sunsets are unmatched over gentle mountains and aggressive rivers. Cold, eerie caves with frosted formations are an hour’s drive away. Reptiles, birds, ox, livestock and all types of insects make their home where they wish – not to mention the elephants at Elephant Camp!
While Pai has practically all the modern amenities one could wish for, it remains a gem for nature seekers who want the best of both worlds.
The Night Market is actually fun.
Unlike other busy night markets in Asia, Pai’s Night Market is a relaxing stroll every night. It’s a social hotspot where everyone meets up without even having to text, gulps a drink in the streets, pries for unique clothes, handicrafts, and of course, eats dinner every night!
Indulge in avocado tea leaf salad, grilled salted-and-buttered corn, savory steamed dumplings, sweet potato and pumpkin burgers, too-big-to-bite falafel pita wraps, fresh fruit smoothies, Thai-style tacos, quirky flavors of bruschetta or flatbreads, chewy banana-nutella crepes or ‘roti’… and these are only the vegetarian options.
Ok, so maybe the globalization is getting a bit out of hand here. But the prices are unbeatable (about $1 to $4 USD per dish for the street vendors), and it’s a tempting break from eating pad thai and fried rice for every other meal.
The longer you stay, the more hidden gems you encounter.
Staying in Pai is like reading a book: the more you read, the more into it you get. That’s because a lot of the magic is only spread through word of mouth and therefore cannot be found from doing research online or in books. I suppose some secrets are best to be kept.
What treasures, you might ask? I bet I barely know a handful, compared with those who live there, but to give you a taste… A sauna attached to a dance venue. Infinity pools stretching over the mountains. Psychedelic mushroom shakes and farms. Spontaneous drum circles. Bamboo tattoo boys. River-dwelling reiki masters. Shamans, medicinal herbalists. Friendly Thai mothers who invite you into their guesthouses for warm eats and sleeps, treating you more like family than a hotel guest. Fat, furry dogs and cats brushing past your calves at every establishment. Mind-blowing painters and woodworkers. Outdoor wine bars with vocalists belting their souls out into the forest. Peculiar postcard shops adorned with lovely murals and emotional quotes. A new tribe of friends from every continent. (Ok, maybe not Antarctica). And again, blacklight jungle parties, where you have to cross rivers and secret pathways to get there!
But we can’t give up alllll the secrets. You’ll have to see for yourself what the love is all about.
Just don’t get stuck in the Pai-hole.
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The best moments can’t truly be captured, right?
