Introduction allaboutpai. Introduction Last Update October 2. Table of Contents In 2. I embarked on my sixth trip to Thailand with a goal to find a place where I could stay comfortably for a long time including the hot season, which has smoked me out of Thailand 3 years running, relax a lot, and also continue to develop my tiny software businesses Word in the Hand, which makes Thailt English software dictionaries, Lurkertech, and a few other projects over the Internet in order to fund my cost of living. ZW-ReDPMrGM/0.jpg' alt='Wonder Woman 1975 Intro Live 2016' title='Wonder Woman 1975 Intro Live 2016' />On December 2. I board the ancient, solid steel, fume spewing third class bus which plies its way through the steep, windy mountain roads of northern Thailand from Chiang Mai to Pai. I switch out of tourist mode and stay in Pai for months years, renting a house long term and taking only occasional trips out of town. Wonder Woman 1975 Intro' title='Wonder Woman 1975 Intro' />Pai is pronounced exactly like the word spy without the s more of a popping b than a p you can learn about Thai sounds here. Pai is located about at the green star on this map, stolen from the Lonely Planet website Pai in Thailand As described in a previous journal entry, most which I will repeat and elaborate on here, Pai is a small, rural mountain town with an interesting mix of Thais, short term Thai and farang non asian foreign tourists, and long term expatriate foreigners. The many cultures blend together here in an interesting way, as opposed to most places in Thailand, where large numbers of farangs just bring forth more scamming tuk tuk drivers, Mc. Donalds restaurants and go go bars. In fact, there are no tuk tuks at all, not even the ubiquitous KFC or LotusTESCO chains have an outpost here though 7 1. August 2. 00. 4, and if there is any prostitution here, it is well hidden. Pai has a reputation for music and other forms of art, and many folks come with their instruments or their work and share it with others. Pai has plenty of hippie culture, yoga, reiki, cleansings, shiatsu, acupuncture, other forms of mysticism, cultish behavior, and soft drugs. It would be easy to dismiss the place as a white hippie haven and look no further. However once you get here, the place begins to challenge your assumptions. You find Thais and farangs wailing out blues music nightly in a bar straight out of New Orleans, fifty something farangs living in hill tribes building export businesses to support their village, Thai street vendors eagerly learning how to make the countrys best falafel, hummus, and tahini from hordes of Israeli travellers, war torn military veterans looking for a peaceful and quiet place to live out the rest of their life, young Bangkok Thais who rejected their metropolitan hell to come live in bamboo huts in remote villages, and even some computer nerds trying to find a comfortable place in which to follow their dreams. Pai is a mix of eccentric but interesting folks with stories, scandals, and adventures that often remind me of the old TV series Northern Exposure, or frontier towns like Telluride, Colorado, USA before its mass development in the 1. Elvis in Atlanta 1975 FTD CD. EIN indepth review by Geoffrey McDonnell Piers Beagley. Steely Dan Fans Dandom Digest dandom. The Original Steely Dan Fan Internet ResourceFounded 1993. Video httpswww. facebook. Wonder Woman La Mujer Maravilla. Living in Pai is not going native by any stretch of the imagination. Theres a local bakerygrocery store that sells baguettes, banana bread, butter, and Crisco. Sometimes, during the tourist high seasons of 2. Thais. However, Pai is surrounded by small rural farming villages where the farang population varies between 0 and 2. In these villages you will find a huge variety of cultures and languages including Thai, Thai Yai Shan, Lisu, Lahu, Akha, and Karen. Expats like myself can move into these cultural scenes when we want, occasionally surfacing for air as we commiserate with our fellow farangs. I am quite happy with this balance between Thai cultures and those with which I am more familiar. In March and April 2. I spent nearly a month in hot north east Thailand pretty much immersed in Thai culture and language. While it was fascinating and educational, I learned that it is also trying and exhausting beyond the simple difficulty of trying to make sentences in Thai, I found it is a constant source of stress to understand and tolerate the very common Thai views on telling the truth, saving face, and independence described in an earlier journal entry. Pai is a beautiful place. It is located in a large valley at about 6. Most of Pai valley consists of fruit orchards or garlic, green onion, or rice fields. From many spots you can catch views like this View from Nah Chalong Hill The shallow Pai river, along with 6 or 7 other rivers originating in the hills around, winds through Pai and the neighboring villages, waters the fields, and provides life for thousands of residents View from Cafe Del Doi Source David GiacolonePai river view of former Rimtaling Guesthouse. Rainbow over field in Vieng Neuea, 2. Rainbow over field in Vieng Neuea, 2. Double Rainbow, 2. There are many natural features to visit. There are lots of waterfalls of various heights, some accessible by road and some by long, beautiful jungle hikes. You can go floating down the river in an inner tube, white water rafting, hiking in a canyon, or take very long, hellish motorbike rides or multi day treks to remote hill tribe villages most of which are much less commercial than the common treks available outside Chiang Mai. Someone has also built a swimming pool near town and charges 4. B entry its an interesting mix of scantily clad farangs and teenage Thai boys trying to make it seem as if they didnt come to stare at the scantily clad farangs. Here is a time lapse video showing a typical Pai skyscape in the rainy season this one is from June 2. The video compresses about 1. Time Lapse of Pai Sky Pai is especially beautiful and wonderfully quiet in the rainy season around June September, when the tropical heat is kept in check by torrential rains that last only a few hours a day, creating green, living landscapes that never cease to make you stop and appreciate them Typical Rainy Season View, 2. There is a special website on this subject at http allaboutpai. There is a wonderful natural hot spring official name Tha Pai Hot Springs, not to be confused with the privately run Tha Pai Spa Camping or Tha Pai Spa Exotic Home about 8km south of Pai where a cold river and boiling hot source meet in 1. You can freeze your butt off motorbiking there in the pre dawn hours and then sit and relax as the rays of the just appearing sun shoot through the steam rising around you. Everywhere you look there are trees and nature, and not a speck of concrete in site. This local treasure has been run by locals and available for free to all locals for centuries. It has even been free over the last 1. Forestry officials care. Sadly, in July 2. Pai, the Thai Forestry Department in Bangkok wrested control of the hot springs from locals and started charging for entry. Worse yet, the fee rapidly went to 2. B for Thais, and 4. B for foreigners, a 2. These outrageous prices, and this outrageous price discrimination, which are not just limited to Pai, have been alienating tourists and tour operators for years, spawning a flood of complaints about park fees all across the country. On 2. 2 November 2. Teachings Of The Buddha Jack Kornfield Pdf Download. Department of National Parks finally began to acknowledge the problem when they introduced a new pricing scheme which reduced fees for some parks. Tha Pai Hot Springs, which is part of Huay Nam Dang National Park, went to 2. B for foreigners and 4. B for Thais. 2. 00. B is still completely, utterly, totally ridiculous.