Hi all, thanks for joining today, you are going to see more of my friend Pen in a coming vlog! Chapters and offers for you are below 👇👇👇 OFFERS FOR THAILAND BASED SUBSCRIBERS: 🍃 Check Out Our LAZADA SHOP For Honey, Cacao, Super Greens Powder, Ginger Extract & Lots More! Here: shorturl.at/Q863r OFFERS FOR WORLDWIDE SUBSCRIBERS 🍄 MUSHROOMS: Get Discounted Fruiting Body Mushroom Supplements Thailand & Worldwide Shipping: shorturl.at/kUOyy Use Coupon code: BAMBOO10 🌐Secure your privacy with Surfshark! Enter coupon code NAKEDGURU for an extra 4 months free at surfshark.deals/NAKEDGURU CHAPTERS: 00:00 Walking Street Pai 01:25 Are We Old Travellers Now? 03:15 People Leaving Pai Thailand.. Why? 04:05 Would I live Here In Pai Thailand? 05:47 Am I an Influencer - Scams! 07:54 Pai Saturday Hippie Market 09:28 Partying In The Day Without Alcohol 12:07 My Friends Arrive 13:00 Pai Saturday Market Festivities
Watching this with my Thai partner and she said "no Thai people, where are all the Thai people, why do farang come to Thailand to be with the same people they live with in their own countries?" Good point.
I seen them start too appear in the early 1990,s As a skint backpacker who had too work fruit in Australia and move charas from India I detested them As fake as PHUK
I was reflecting on my time in Thai 30 years ago. I went to Knog Kai near the Lao boarder and had a very wonderful time starrying out at the river. Just hanging out eating yummy Thai food. It was great. I think sometimes you can never go back to your paradise. Shine on!
Mate, I was there at 29. I'm now 47, married with kids. At the time my girlfriend had gone to a monastery, and i was there by myself for a week. I met some yanks in the Yellow Sun bar and we became fast friends. Amazing, hazy memories of it all. I remember them playing Bad Moon rising on their Juke box and playing pool a lot. We'd do buckets of booze with the bar staff and, the next day, I'd eat delicious food, and sleep through the hangover until the afternoon. We'd take mopeds and drive to the waterfall, then back to the bar. Everyone was so friendly.
I went back to Pai recently after 20 years and was shocked at what a tourist pit it has become, catering to the young "hip" Farang crowd. Like many places in Thailand now it seems less like Thailand and more like any other hip tourist town. Sad.
It’s been two years since I left Pai and I’m itching to get back there, this time with a toddler in tow. Nervous about how much more busy it is now. I love that there’s always good music to dance to, without alcohol! And Thai Zen is my absolute favourite place to eat! 🤗
Pai was a gem of a valley 1989 when I was a young 21 arrived on the dusty dirt road from Chiang mai. Went back last year for the first time 56 years old and was lost for words. Rural Thailand just out of town was more my pace.. just the way it is.
@@gerardwise67 I had this with Koh Phi Phi, worked there back in 2004/5 visit again in 2017 it’s not the island 🏝 I knew but time and money changes everything.
Yep tourism has changed places unfortunately simply due to too many tourists and in some places due to over development with no restrictions. I was fortunate to go to Phi Phi Island 1989 and it was bliss. Ten years ago i was a captain on a private yacht and the owner wanted to go have lunch there. Yes its a mess n@@jakespeed6515
I was in Pai last year (May - June) and I wanted to leave after 3 days because I hated my hostel and the vibe. Luckily I found Good Life Dacha, where the market is, and it was the most authentic experience I’ve ever had. I appreciate I was there in low season so it definitely wasn’t as busy as this, but I was able to connect with many local people and had a lovely experience. I think Pai is whatever you want it to be and if you’re happy to go a little further out of the main area, you can have a great relaxing time
I would actually go ahead and say knobheads. They live their life preaching to others whilst daddy supports them with $10k monthly allowance and trust funds. I’m sorry but I don’t live that way and still have a great life in Bang Saray don’t have a car or scooter and use only public transportation. I have long hair pony tail live in linen and am not a hippy but peeps assume I am. These are pretentious people who will return one day to where they came from having caused so much damage to the locals. So sad.
Thanks for the video, Ryan! Never been to Pai. Hearing what you say, it's a great little city. But it does look like a high-income hippie people haven, with loads of Tattoo shops, cannabis stores and more and more coffee shop vs. less and less bars...
Embarrassing? Don't be ridiculous; these people are enjoying themselves and have no concern about what you think. Live and let live. Mind your business.
Myself and my brother inlaw and sister travelled through pai on motorcycles in the early eighties, wow the eventual change😢, i remember the thai soups and food there was so scrumptious 😋. Great video ryan.
I also went on a month long ride around that part of Thailand in the 80's with a mate of mine too...lots of wonderful memories. One of which was riding along a quiet road and we saw a guy on an elephant travelling down the road. We stopped, said hello to the mahoot who was a cool guy. We spoke basic Thai, so we could communicate fairly well with him, asked where he was going?, how many kilometers per day?, why he was going there etc, asked about his elephant, he told us that he doesn't speak Thai to his elephant, instead gives commands in an ancient language (Sanscrit?) etc etc We gave him some snacks, smoked some of his cigarettes and we smoked his Thai cigs and we had a drink together..then I asked him if he smoked ganja and if so would he like a smoke? and he said "Yes, please, I like to smoke ganja". I had a friend who lived in Thailand who gave me some excellent quality ganja, this was not the usual poorly grown, dried out, seedy, dirty/moldy brick weed that most farang scored in Thailand at the time...this was well grown, fully matured, slow cured and was very good quality. But he generously gave me too much and as I was flying domestically from the south to the north of the country and didn't want to carry so much bulky weed around (as it was very illegal back then) so I set aside the best buds and then spent an hour hand rubbing the rest of it, charas style. (The leaves and seed bracts (buds) of the plant cannabis doesn't get you high, it's the trichomes which are the tiny sticky glands of resin attached to the plant matter that is psychoactive and gets you "high") I rubbed the ganja over and over again over a glass coffee table to "extract" this resin and then rubbed off the tarry build up (of trichomes aka resin heads) on my palms to the side until most of the resin was rubbed off the ganja then mixed and massaged this "hash" into the good buds that I had removed all the stems and had grinded up. This took 45 ~ 60 minutes of strenuous, hard rubbing, The result was a cross between hash and bud and it was very potent. Several big handfuls of bud was reduced down to a compact cigarette box size of dense, resiny, sticky, black/brown colored bud. I had built up a tolerance to this hash/ganja, but it still hit hard and was spacey/trippy but manageable....too much of it, if you were not used to it would wipe you out..it was 10 times stronger than the standard Thai brick weed. Well, I warned the mahoot that his ganja was stronger than usual. I tried to explain how I increased the potency but was my Thai wasn't good enough to get the message across. He asked "Is it 100% Thai ganja?" I said it was then he scoffed and said "I'm Thai and so of course it will be no problem". Famous last words lol So we had a smoke, shared just a little joint and said our goodbyes then we rode off to a waterfall, three hours later we rode back along the same road and we saw the elephant meandering along the road and the mahoot was sound asleep, mouth open, arms and legs spread out, laying on his back in the sun on the elephant..obviously stoned off his head . We stopped and tried to wake him by yelling out , but he was completely out of it and we didn't want to make too much noise and upset the elephant...so we rode off. This charas ganja I made was shared with other Thais and foreigners on that trip and every single time, they scoffed at me, dismissing my warnings laughing at me "I've smoked Thai bud and it's weak, I'm from California which has the best weed in the world..blah blah...".or "Hey Farang, I'm Thai, I know Thai ganja better than you, come on let's light this joint"..and it overwhelmed them all, got them way too stoned and put them all down for the count obliterating them into a dribbling mess lol....well, I did warn them. I did meet the Californians the day after I had a smoke with them and they accused me of drugging them with opium or something...and from then on I just kept it to myself.
Stayed in Pai 3 months. This was long time ago 2001-2002. Beautiful time. Hot springs had free 24 hour entry for everyone. Private bamboo hut on the riverside 70 baht/ night. Bed in dormitory 50 baht/ night. I was the only one in dorm room for a weeks. It was beautiful raised wooden barn. Found girl friend and boy friend in Pai. Good memories. Should I go back, or keep Pai in my memory as it was?
Having grown up in San Francisco in the 60s and 70s and attending name music festivals and dead shows, Pai looks like shakedown street scene lol always entertaining
The tubing there is destroying the place. You will regularly see groups of wasted people walking half naked through town. Tourism is destroying the place soon it will look like places in the south. Btw, I love the place. Getting on a motorbike and just going around while looking at beautiful landscapes. I wish it was not so focused on tourists, but I understand that Thai people want to make money as well and live a good life. During my time there I felt there were more Israelis there than Thai people
Thanks for this. I'm interested in Pai mainly for the climate. (In Chiang Mai 3 years now.) It'd be interesting to also know about the non-hippy, non-zoomer culture there. Not just 'other activities available' but the other expat culture and how else people live. Good content. Again, thanks~
Im elder to know i hate commercialized hyppydom. Was in Pai in 2007 drove over mountains from Mae Hong Song. Was not impressed with commercialized Hill tribe bus loads arriving. But it was a cool visit just 20 years too long in the making. Pai was relaxed and only a little commercial not expensive and I wanted to return one day. Elephant rides etc. But this Pai now I will absolutely despise. A more recent trip is a better choice south of there to Tambon Nong Lu, Kanchaburi up to the border. Loved it and the kids loved it, even the Isaan mrs loved it. Can buy indian food, Had a lady in Indian dress walking the streets selling food on her head basket with her kids, maybe refugee family from Burma. Lots of Mon people and very relaxing there and on the way with lots to do and see. Its more into Thai living. House boats for rent waterfalls on the roadside for swimming and much more.
I lived there in 2005 before that made that movie and Pai exploded with Bangkok tourists. I think you got there when that happened and it was dramatic. Now there's so many hippy kids smoking dope the BKK people seem to not even be interested. Farangs probably outnumber the locals 10 to 1. It's silly.
Wow, that was a shock. I cut my teeth in Thailand in the 90's & finished up marrying a Thai. Never got to Pai but we planned to go there next month on a road trip holiday. It looks like Ko Phan Yang back in the 90's. Don't think I'll spend much time in Pai. What a shame.
Will be heading to Pai for a month of muay thai at Charn Chai in January and cannot wait! Yeah, the rich kid hippy types aren't really my cup of Chang but I've also experienced the booze heavy side of Thailand and sometimes it feels like I could be in some UK city centre on a Saturday night with vibe. I think it's important to go with an open mind and a willingness to have a good time, because if I'm not prepared to do that, why am I even getting on a plane? I'll just be grateful to be away from the freezing cold and the post-festive slump!
It has been a long time since I was there. I didn't recognize anything until you rounded the corner with BaanPai, with that 7/11 down the street. When I was there neither of those two streets were more than a couple of blocks long. Looks like it has gone the same way as Vang Vieng laos. When I was there I was told it first got popular with the Japanese back in the 70s
Oh dear...Looks as though the farang hippie crowd of Koh Phangan got priced out by the "digital nomads" and moved their entire business to Pai (which might atually be worth the resulting higher prices there!)? As I always stayed clear of Zen beach and "drum circles" and shit, I think I now have to avoid Pai as well - that I thought was more about the misty mountain views and local mountain farming culture... All well and good that people are enjoying themselves and having fun, but I personally always had a bit of a problem with that particular category of Thailand travelers (or "dwellers"). "High income hippies" as someone called them - that whole thing seems to be such a superficial and shallow, exhibitionistic "oh, look how yoga, arty and beautiful I am" sub-culture, full of self-proclaimed, "Russell Brand"-styled "gurus" (with more than a few of them taking spiritual and sexual advantage of "insecure woman in a bit of a phaze", susceptible to exploitation by said "gurus" while travelling to south east Asia to "find them selves").
The females are just as bad as the male “gurus”. They all deserve each other, but it would be better for everyone else (and Pai) if they just went to India instead …
Living in Pai it is a commercial hippy party zone, so many locals have now moved into the tourism, I am lucky I live in a small village on the outskirts with great views and I am usually in and out of the centre having done my shopping well before the party people are up. The locals are great people the crime and bad manners are an import from the tourists where some have no respect for local culture. Sitting in ER for an hour or two every evening for a week getting a course of medicine, it was interesting in an evening watching the ‘tipsy tourists’ who had had motorbike falls and wondered why the tarmac hurts when wearing just flip flops, t-shirt and shorts must have been 80-90% of the ER work ! Great vlog as usual
My uncle has a house on the south side of the valley and he's lived there for over 20 years now. I come visit him once or twice and year and it's so lovely....until you leave and go to do anything in the town. Mega tourism totally killed all of the local culture. It alienates my Thai wife even because there are virtually no Thai people left. It wasn't like that at all when I lived there in 2005 for 1 year.
" it was interesting in an evening watching the ‘tipsy tourists’ who had had motorbike falls and wondered why the tarmac hurts when wearing just flip flops, t-shirt and shorts must have been 80-90% of the ER work ! '..It would be far worse in Pattaya or Phuket..No matter where you go in Thailand idiot farangs are on their motorbikes with no helmet, a t-shirt and shorts and inappropriate footwear, just to get that "liberating" feeling until they end up dead or in hospital. I had the misfortune of having to go to Pattaya to meet someone and the "resident" farangs quickly pick up every hazardous action the Thais do on their motorbikes..weaving betwen cars to get to the front of the line, 3 to a bike, getting from 0-100 in 3 seconds,etc,etc.
I missed pai on my travels in northern Thailand in June, I’m off to southern next June but I’m loving the vibe here and will definitely be visiting at some stage can you recommend somewhere to stay, a decent hostel would suit me to me fellow travellers … great blogs Ryan
12 years here now, i think - still never been to Pai or any further north than Pai, spent lots of time in central, southern and E-saan but never made it past Chiangmai, looks like a place where my KAVA would be appreciated lol
You mean like the majority of places in Thailand, whether for farangs or locals? I'd rather be there than Phuket, Pattaya, Koh Samui and the numerous places being transformed by tourism and where the old sleazebags turn them into "bar & prostitution" havens.
It looks ok to visit for a few hours but I’d not want to like for a week I personally don’t like noise and busyness I prefer a more quiet atmosphere thank you Ryan for sharing pai
I'm guessing that the English is strong in Pai then.. along with many other languages I'm heading to Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai in November/December. a friend from work told me about this place and now your video.. so maybe this is a sign.
Follow your channel and always enjoy. Not so sure that part of Pai is child friendly you quote, not around the druggy wasters but other than that looks lovely place...
Like any good fishing spot, once others find it, everything is ruined! Pai isn't the quaint, remote destination it used to be. Just too many foreigners!
Pia is finished bikini boxing, drunk tubing, foam parties, I was shocked what happened to the place. And as you said the prices have gone through the roof. It all changed when the Krabi Thais got moved there after the tsunami.
Pai is not what it used to be. Hasn’t been for a long time. When i first visited in 2007, its what made me move to Thailand in 2011. I moved to pai in 2012 but eventually settled back in chiang mai. By 2014 pai was really getting blown out and by 2016 it was overwhelming and completely over touristed. I haven’t really been back other than riding through on the way to mae hong son during covid. It mostly was a combination of all the Koh Phangan crowd and vang vieng crowd (back when it was still popping) bringing the party scene in combination with the massive amounts of Chinese coming in. All that was the 2nd wave. The 1st wave was after Pai in love movie back in 2009. Shocked to see the watsons there. It was not there even a few years ago. Thats a clear sign
I lived in Pai for ten years until I had a serious motorcycle accident 4.5 years ago. After being in hospital for 4 months, i moved to my wife's home in MaeSai. Watching videos of Pai in the last 12 months, Pai has changed so drastically that I could never move back. If anyone wants to move to Pai, I still have a house on 2 Rai of land just outside of the town, that I'd love to sell.
For sure you influence people. But I think in a good way. 😊 I was in Kho Phan Gan 30 years ago, I don't go back because it will never be the same. The time before 7/11 came to the island and fucked it up with beer drinking youngsters from Europe on 3 weeks holiday. 😂
Haha we change and places change. When I first visited Pai in 94 there was about 5 falang tourists knocking about and probably about the same for long time stayers. 2 restaurants that served western food, one of which was closed in the slow season. I was a bit taken a back with the change when I went back around 2005, but at the same time glad there's hopefully more opertunities for the lovely people of Pai. We just have to appreciate what we find when we find it and accept things change.
OMG! What happened to Pai?? I was there about 6-7 years ago and i don't reconize the place. Sorry to say it straight but it looks a f-up version of itself and look the same as example Koh Lipe without the beach. You almost want to upload my video walking in Pai at that time to show you the difference. And yes, i am more than 50 but in thailand i feel young because they always say i look like 35 LOL
Looking at the Pai Saturday Market... Not my cup of tea. Neither are all of those Soi's of Pattaya or other tourist bar streets. It kinda feels like the two opposite extremes of the same thing i.e. places where you find more tourists than locals. Something in between would be great, but if I have to choose, then I guess that Pai Market would be better being more feel-good than agro. Oh well... To each, his or her own.
its abit complicated so i may do a video in future. hHaving started 3 companies here and my wife holding a degree in finance and accounting it was easy its cheap to start (40k THB) but somewhat expensive to maintain since you need 2 full time Thai staff, social security and tax
I'll just make this comment re drinking. I have spent my entire life working in the nightclub/party scene where drinking is common. In my experience there are people who can drink and people who cannot. In general there are more commercial type scenes that have a lot of unpleasant behaviour and the more underground scenes where people are really very good with drink. I find that with weed strengths now, there a lot of travellers that are getting really quite disturbed while just having what they think might be a regular joint and it ending up to be pure heavy hybridised to heck gear. You see this all the time in Thailand now and it isn't really discussed. No it's not a huge issue, but in a social setting it can result in a not very social atmosphere.
Pai 20 years ago was a great place , laid back and chilled , now it's like a 18 -30s party town , their are still pockets of interesting expats and travelers , but for my the laid back easy going vibe has gone😥
Had Pai on my bucket list after watching your vlog of your previous visit. Not any more though, unless there's a very different side of the place that you show us on this trip. Hippies, weed, maybe market stalls selling products not made by Thais, entertainment (official or casual) with no Thais playing instruments that I could see. Maybe a number of Digital Nomads under the radar. Sounds like a good time for Police and Immigration to make themselves known to the crowds
Ryan you are the anti-influencer! I've never gotten those vibes from you. You're simply sharing your life in a beautifully candid way without any pretence to "influencing" anybody. Much love!
@@thenakedguru clean and sober 34 years. Came to Thailand 93.. teaching scuba Phuket until tsunami Moved up to Patts started muay thai 2006. Nothing serious, but it's a great work out and great venue to meet People.. since I haven't been in a bar for 34 years.. started my own charity 12 years ago buriram.. I drive up Twice per month with supplies.. used to be bicycles.. now cellphones.. food and บาท Great life.. But , I don't travel anywhere without muay thai.. cheers
First visited in '95. Was proper rustic then, bamboo cottage accommodation for around 80B, night life was playing outdoor pool tables listening to pirated cassette tape music when there wasn't a powercut..
Hi all, thanks for joining today, you are going to see more of my friend Pen in a coming vlog! Chapters and offers for you are below 👇👇👇
OFFERS FOR THAILAND BASED SUBSCRIBERS:
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Use Coupon code: BAMBOO10
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CHAPTERS:
00:00 Walking Street Pai
01:25 Are We Old Travellers Now?
03:15 People Leaving Pai Thailand.. Why?
04:05 Would I live Here In Pai Thailand?
05:47 Am I an Influencer - Scams!
07:54 Pai Saturday Hippie Market
09:28 Partying In The Day Without Alcohol
12:07 My Friends Arrive
13:00 Pai Saturday Market Festivities
I was told that wealthy thais from bangkok invested in hotels.shops .and properties after the tsunami..?
🤔
No thank you
Love Thailand 🇹🇭
But Pai will be a hard pass 🙃
That place looks done..
It's done to you but the young people are living their best life.
It's not the Pai I first went to 20 years ago, just too many weirdos 😂
@terencegraham8414 "best life"? If doing drugs and having random sex with strangers is your idea of the best way to live life then I pity you.
Thanks for going Ryan, so I don't have too! ❤👍🙏
You are very welcome my friend!
@@BadMedizin Love the Max Headroom for your profile photo 😂✌️❣️🇹🇭
Thanks for the warning will stay clear 😂
🤣🙏
right... haha
After watching this video I have just scratched Pai off my bucket list!
💯
Watching this with my Thai partner and she said "no Thai people, where are all the Thai people, why do farang come to Thailand to be with the same people they live with in their own countries?" Good point.
I know they could do all these things in many European countries!
Been to Pai a couple of times. Not my thing. Give me the village life any time. Too many space cadets with daddys credit card.
Saw alot of this 👍
I seen them start too appear in the early 1990,s
As a skint backpacker who had too work fruit in Australia and move charas from India
I detested them
As fake as PHUK
Space cadets with daddy's credit card - you nailed it man! This is how experienced the place as well
We were going to head to Pai when up in CM later in the year, but after seeing this, i won't bother. Looks like the hippie Zombie apocalypse
Pai used to be awesome!! Such a shame the secret got out. Time to find a new place. 😊
I was reflecting on my time in Thai 30 years ago. I went to Knog Kai near the Lao boarder and had a very wonderful time starrying out at the river. Just hanging out eating yummy Thai food. It was great. I think sometimes you can never go back to your paradise. Shine on!
The dog's look at the end says it all. He's like 'oh please, someone stop them'. Been there a few times 15-20y ago... not so artificial.
Cool !! " Peace & Love " Village of Smiles ! 😄 I love it !
Mate, I was there at 29. I'm now 47, married with kids. At the time my girlfriend had gone to a monastery, and i was there by myself for a week. I met some yanks in the Yellow Sun bar and we became fast friends. Amazing, hazy memories of it all. I remember them playing Bad Moon rising on their Juke box and playing pool a lot. We'd do buckets of booze with the bar staff and, the next day, I'd eat delicious food, and sleep through the hangover until the afternoon. We'd take mopeds and drive to the waterfall, then back to the bar. Everyone was so friendly.
What a beautiful place Pai is, but all the hippie types puts me off.
I went back to Pai recently after 20 years and was shocked at what a tourist pit it has become, catering to the young "hip" Farang crowd. Like many places in Thailand now it seems less like Thailand and more like any other hip tourist town. Sad.
...mass tourism does that everywhere.
Some of the best memories was from time living there in the early 00s. Special place it was but with a dark undercurrent.
It’s been two years since I left Pai and I’m itching to get back there, this time with a toddler in tow. Nervous about how much more busy it is now. I love that there’s always good music to dance to, without alcohol! And Thai Zen is my absolute favourite place to eat! 🤗
yep that place is gone.
Pai was a gem of a valley 1989 when I was a young 21 arrived on the dusty dirt road from Chiang mai.
Went back last year for the first time 56 years old and was lost for words. Rural Thailand just out of town was more my pace.. just the way it is.
Thailand as a whole was a gem in the 90's but we cannot pretend the world stays poor to preserve our memories :)
@@gerardwise67 I had this with Koh Phi Phi, worked there back in 2004/5 visit again in 2017 it’s not the island 🏝 I knew but time and money changes everything.
Yep tourism has changed places unfortunately simply due to too many tourists and in some places due to over development with no restrictions.
I was fortunate to go to Phi Phi Island 1989 and it was bliss. Ten years ago i was a captain on a private yacht and the owner wanted to go have lunch there. Yes its a mess n@@jakespeed6515
There was also a time when pai had banned river tubing.. they shut it down several times but apparently it’s impossible now. Its a shame
I was in Pai last year (May - June) and I wanted to leave after 3 days because I hated my hostel and the vibe. Luckily I found Good Life Dacha, where the market is, and it was the most authentic experience I’ve ever had. I appreciate I was there in low season so it definitely wasn’t as busy as this, but I was able to connect with many local people and had a lovely experience. I think Pai is whatever you want it to be and if you’re happy to go a little further out of the main area, you can have a great relaxing time
That’s dog at the end made me laugh. His face… “please stop the drums, please someone help me”
Wow... its filled with pretentious vanilla hipsters! 😂😂😂
🤣🤣🤣
I would actually go ahead and say knobheads. They live their life preaching to others whilst daddy supports them with $10k monthly allowance and trust funds. I’m sorry but I don’t live that way and still have a great life in Bang Saray don’t have a car or scooter and use only public transportation. I have long hair pony tail live in linen and am not a hippy but peeps assume I am. These are pretentious people who will return one day to where they came from having caused so much damage to the locals. So sad.
@@veganwarrior4559true 100%
Was there in 2003, prefer to remember how it was. I have zero respect for todays younger self obsessed, entitled crowd in Thailand
Yep. 👍
God, I hate hippies … 😂😵🤮
My family members in Northern Thailand have said, "It's not your father's Thailand". Agreed.
Course it's not, it's called moving forward.
Thanks for the video, Ryan!
Never been to Pai.
Hearing what you say, it's a great little city. But it does look like a high-income hippie people haven, with loads of Tattoo shops, cannabis stores and more and more coffee shop vs. less and less bars...
Yea that summarizes it my friend 🙏
Why the hell would you want to turn Pai into another low class, "bar" location? Aren't there enough for you in Pattaya?
I think you tried focaccia bread.
Ah! That’s so funny, you’ve managed to capture me on this video too! 😂
Extremely Embarrasing to watch some of these folks thinking they are so Chic...
Darn right . They need to to get haircuts and get real jobs !
Embarrassing? Don't be ridiculous; these people are enjoying themselves and have no concern about what you think. Live and let live. Mind your business.
@steveone 555 who are you to dictate how others live? Live and let live.
@@keninchicago Being sarcastic mate .
@@keninchicago Who are you to comment on other peoples comments...Keep quiet...
Myself and my brother inlaw and sister travelled through pai on motorcycles in the early eighties, wow the eventual change😢, i remember the thai soups and food there was so scrumptious 😋. Great video ryan.
I also went on a month long ride around that part of Thailand in the 80's with a mate of mine too...lots of wonderful memories.
One of which was riding along a quiet road and we saw a guy on an elephant travelling down the road. We stopped, said hello to the mahoot who was a cool guy. We spoke basic Thai, so we could communicate fairly well with him, asked where he was going?, how many kilometers per day?, why he was going there etc, asked about his elephant, he told us that he doesn't speak Thai to his elephant, instead gives commands in an ancient language (Sanscrit?) etc etc We gave him some snacks, smoked some of his cigarettes and we smoked his Thai cigs and we had a drink together..then I asked him if he smoked ganja and if so would he like a smoke? and he said "Yes, please, I like to smoke ganja".
I had a friend who lived in Thailand who gave me some excellent quality ganja, this was not the usual poorly grown, dried out, seedy, dirty/moldy brick weed that most farang scored in Thailand at the time...this was well grown, fully matured, slow cured and was very good quality. But he generously gave me too much and as I was flying domestically from the south to the north of the country and didn't want to carry so much bulky weed around (as it was very illegal back then) so I set aside the best buds and then spent an hour hand rubbing the rest of it, charas style.
(The leaves and seed bracts (buds) of the plant cannabis doesn't get you high, it's the trichomes which are the tiny sticky glands of resin attached to the plant matter that is psychoactive and gets you "high")
I rubbed the ganja over and over again over a glass coffee table to "extract" this resin and then rubbed off the tarry build up (of trichomes aka resin heads) on my palms to the side until most of the resin was rubbed off the ganja then mixed and massaged this "hash" into the good buds that I had removed all the stems and had grinded up. This took 45 ~ 60 minutes of strenuous, hard rubbing, The result was a cross between hash and bud and it was very potent. Several big handfuls of bud was reduced down to a compact cigarette box size of dense, resiny, sticky, black/brown colored bud.
I had built up a tolerance to this hash/ganja, but it still hit hard and was spacey/trippy but manageable....too much of it, if you were not used to it would wipe you out..it was 10 times stronger than the standard Thai brick weed.
Well, I warned the mahoot that his ganja was stronger than usual. I tried to explain how I increased the potency but was my Thai wasn't good enough to get the message across. He asked "Is it 100% Thai ganja?" I said it was then he scoffed and said "I'm Thai and so of course it will be no problem". Famous last words lol
So we had a smoke, shared just a little joint and said our goodbyes then we rode off to a waterfall, three hours later we rode back along the same road and we saw the elephant meandering along the road and the mahoot was sound asleep, mouth open, arms and legs spread out, laying on his back in the sun on the elephant..obviously stoned off his head . We stopped and tried to wake him by yelling out , but he was completely out of it and we didn't want to make too much noise and upset the elephant...so we rode off.
This charas ganja I made was shared with other Thais and foreigners on that trip and every single time, they scoffed at me, dismissing my warnings laughing at me "I've smoked Thai bud and it's weak, I'm from California which has the best weed in the world..blah blah...".or "Hey Farang, I'm Thai, I know Thai ganja better than you, come on let's light this joint"..and it overwhelmed them all, got them way too stoned and put them all down for the count obliterating them into a dribbling mess lol....well, I did warn them.
I did meet the Californians the day after I had a smoke with them and they accused me of drugging them with opium or something...and from then on I just kept it to myself.
Stayed in Pai 3 months. This was long time ago 2001-2002. Beautiful time. Hot springs had free 24 hour entry for everyone. Private bamboo hut on the riverside 70 baht/ night. Bed in dormitory 50 baht/ night. I was the only one in dorm room for a weeks. It was beautiful raised wooden barn. Found girl friend and boy friend in Pai.
Good memories. Should I go back, or keep Pai in my memory as it was?
Having grown up in San Francisco in the 60s and 70s and attending name music festivals and dead shows, Pai looks like shakedown street scene lol always entertaining
The tubing there is destroying the place. You will regularly see groups of wasted people walking half naked through town. Tourism is destroying the place soon it will look like places in the south. Btw, I love the place. Getting on a motorbike and just going around while looking at beautiful landscapes. I wish it was not so focused on tourists, but I understand that Thai people want to make money as well and live a good life. During my time there I felt there were more Israelis there than Thai people
And straight out of the army. Not the nicest vibe.
Thanks for this. I'm interested in Pai mainly for the climate. (In Chiang Mai 3 years now.) It'd be interesting to also know about the non-hippy, non-zoomer culture there. Not just 'other activities available' but the other expat culture and how else people live. Good content. Again, thanks~
Im elder to know i hate commercialized hyppydom. Was in Pai in 2007 drove over mountains from Mae Hong Song. Was not impressed with commercialized Hill tribe bus loads arriving. But it was a cool visit just 20 years too long in the making. Pai was relaxed and only a little commercial not expensive and I wanted to return one day. Elephant rides etc. But this Pai now I will absolutely despise. A more recent trip is a better choice south of there to Tambon Nong Lu, Kanchaburi up to the border. Loved it and the kids loved it, even the Isaan mrs loved it. Can buy indian food, Had a lady in Indian dress walking the streets selling food on her head basket with her kids, maybe refugee family from Burma. Lots of Mon people and very relaxing there and on the way with lots to do and see. Its more into Thai living. House boats for rent waterfalls on the roadside for swimming and much more.
I lived there in 2005 before that made that movie and Pai exploded with Bangkok tourists. I think you got there when that happened and it was dramatic. Now there's so many hippy kids smoking dope the BKK people seem to not even be interested. Farangs probably outnumber the locals 10 to 1. It's silly.
I was told many years ago "If you find Paradise, don't tell anyone, or soon it will become Hell "
Wow, that was a shock. I cut my teeth in Thailand in the 90's & finished up marrying a Thai. Never got to Pai but we planned to go there next month on a road trip holiday. It looks like Ko Phan Yang back in the 90's. Don't think I'll spend much time in Pai. What a shame.
Will be heading to Pai for a month of muay thai at Charn Chai in January and cannot wait! Yeah, the rich kid hippy types aren't really my cup of Chang but I've also experienced the booze heavy side of Thailand and sometimes it feels like I could be in some UK city centre on a Saturday night with vibe. I think it's important to go with an open mind and a willingness to have a good time, because if I'm not prepared to do that, why am I even getting on a plane? I'll just be grateful to be away from the freezing cold and the post-festive slump!
It has been a long time since I was there. I didn't recognize anything until you rounded the corner with BaanPai, with that 7/11 down the street. When I was there neither of those two streets were more than a couple of blocks long. Looks like it has gone the same way as Vang Vieng laos. When I was there I was told it first got popular with the Japanese back in the 70s
❤🎉😂 Thailand the land of smiles beautiful country lifestyle so cute
Been to Pai before, love it then. That marked look scary to me. Off my list now :(
I'm not sure if joint and sober should be in the same sentence but we know what it is.
Oh dear...Looks as though the farang hippie crowd of Koh Phangan got priced out by the "digital nomads" and moved their entire business to Pai (which might atually be worth the resulting higher prices there!)? As I always stayed clear of Zen beach and "drum circles" and shit, I think I now have to avoid Pai as well - that I thought was more about the misty mountain views and local mountain farming culture... All well and good that people are enjoying themselves and having fun, but I personally always had a bit of a problem with that particular category of Thailand travelers (or "dwellers"). "High income hippies" as someone called them - that whole thing seems to be such a superficial and shallow, exhibitionistic "oh, look how yoga, arty and beautiful I am" sub-culture, full of self-proclaimed, "Russell Brand"-styled "gurus" (with more than a few of them taking spiritual and sexual advantage of "insecure woman in a bit of a phaze", susceptible to exploitation by said "gurus" while travelling to south east Asia to "find them selves").
Well said
The females are just as bad as the male “gurus”. They all deserve each other, but it would be better for everyone else (and Pai) if they just went to India instead …
Thankfully I spent a lot of time in pai in the mid nineties. Its totally destroyed now.
Very touristic not authentic anymore.. thanks for showing it. Not going up to Pai anymore.
Living in Pai it is a commercial hippy party zone, so many locals have now moved into the tourism, I am lucky I live in a small village on the outskirts with great views and I am usually in and out of the centre having done my shopping well before the party people are up.
The locals are great people the crime and bad manners are an import from the tourists where some have no respect for local culture.
Sitting in ER for an hour or two every evening for a week getting a course of medicine, it was interesting in an evening watching the ‘tipsy tourists’ who had had motorbike falls and wondered why the tarmac hurts when wearing just flip flops, t-shirt and shorts must have been 80-90% of the ER work !
Great vlog as usual
My uncle has a house on the south side of the valley and he's lived there for over 20 years now. I come visit him once or twice and year and it's so lovely....until you leave and go to do anything in the town. Mega tourism totally killed all of the local culture. It alienates my Thai wife even because there are virtually no Thai people left. It wasn't like that at all when I lived there in 2005 for 1 year.
" it was interesting in an evening watching the ‘tipsy tourists’ who had had motorbike falls and wondered why the tarmac hurts when wearing just flip flops, t-shirt and shorts must have been 80-90% of the ER work ! '..It would be far worse in Pattaya or Phuket..No matter where you go in Thailand idiot farangs are on their motorbikes with no helmet, a t-shirt and shorts and inappropriate footwear, just to get that "liberating" feeling until they end up dead or in hospital.
I had the misfortune of having to go to Pattaya to meet someone and the "resident" farangs quickly pick up every hazardous action the Thais do on their motorbikes..weaving betwen cars to get to the front of the line, 3 to a bike, getting from 0-100 in 3 seconds,etc,etc.
Flip flops , their the sensible ones , it's the barefoot boys and girls.which make me squirm 😳
I missed pai on my travels in northern Thailand in June, I’m off to southern next June but I’m loving the vibe here and will definitely be visiting at some stage can you recommend somewhere to stay, a decent hostel would suit me to me fellow travellers … great blogs Ryan
Thanks Anji 🙏
Lets try it out 😅😅😅
Mushroom 🍄🍄🍄
Greetings from Thailand 🇹🇭🇹🇭🇹🇭
My brother would love this town
Everytime I see a party in Pai on YT its always drum and bass/jungle music playing
Pai is Thailand's Elephant Pants Sanctuary! hahah
🤣🤣
Nice
Isn't that why Ryan packed the Elephant Pants before leaving home 🤔🤣🤣🤣
my pants a made by the tribal people and not an elephant in sight on them! 😁
Good man.
12 years here now, i think - still never been to Pai or any further north than Pai, spent lots of time in central, southern and E-saan but never made it past Chiangmai, looks like a place where my KAVA would be appreciated lol
I was in Pai 10 years ago. I see it has changed. When I was there it was so quiet. Loved it and stayed in a Homestay. Too many farangs now.
Love it when farangs complain about................farangs. Lol.
It’s a tourist ghetto now
You mean like the majority of places in Thailand, whether for farangs or locals? I'd rather be there than Phuket, Pattaya, Koh Samui and the numerous places being transformed by tourism and where the old sleazebags turn them into "bar & prostitution" havens.
Drum circles are always garbage lol😂
I'm 36, don't feel old all in the mind mate.
My wife and I are in our 50’s. We were in Pai in 2023 and felt old watching all the “kids” at the end of their day on inner tubes in the river.
You're living the dream of many, many people.... So yes, I'm afraid you are definitely an influencer, but not in a bad way!😅
It looks ok to visit for a few hours but I’d not want to like for a week I personally don’t like noise and busyness I prefer a more quiet atmosphere thank you Ryan for sharing pai
In Australia this would be Nimbin.
That reminds me of when I used to follow the Grateful Dead many years ago 🤙🏼
Ripgroove blasting out in the background - almost makes my teeth chatter just to hear that tune again.
Since November 2021, I have been there seven times, and each visit has been progressively less pleasant.
Beautiful ❤
mushroom
I'm guessing that the English is strong in Pai then.. along with many other languages
I'm heading to Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai in November/December. a friend from work told me about this place and now your video.. so maybe this is a sign.
Pai was great before Ganja flower power returned even more motorcycle accidents but Yes man life goes on for some
Pai looks so nice and chill. I will go there one day. Love all the positive energy and vibes ❤
These people are a little bit late for Woodstock.😂
Hippie for a day vibe
Follow your channel and always enjoy. Not so sure that part of Pai is child friendly you quote, not around the druggy wasters but other than that looks lovely place...
Like any good fishing spot, once others find it, everything is ruined! Pai isn't the quaint, remote destination it used to be. Just too many foreigners!
Pia is finished bikini boxing, drunk tubing, foam parties, I was shocked what happened to the place. And as you said the prices have gone through the roof. It all changed when the Krabi Thais got moved there after the tsunami.
Are there even any Thais left in Pai?
No need to make that a stop for me.
Pai is not what it used to be. Hasn’t been for a long time. When i first visited in 2007, its what made me move to Thailand in 2011. I moved to pai in 2012 but eventually settled back in chiang mai. By 2014 pai was really getting blown out and by 2016 it was overwhelming and completely over touristed. I haven’t really been back other than riding through on the way to mae hong son during covid. It mostly was a combination of all the Koh Phangan crowd and vang vieng crowd (back when it was still popping) bringing the party scene in combination with the massive amounts of Chinese coming in. All that was the 2nd wave. The 1st wave was after Pai in love movie back in 2009. Shocked to see the watsons there. It was not there even a few years ago. Thats a clear sign
I lived in Pai for ten years until I had a serious motorcycle accident 4.5 years ago. After being in hospital for 4 months, i moved to my wife's home in MaeSai.
Watching videos of Pai in the last 12 months, Pai has changed so drastically that I could never move back.
If anyone wants to move to Pai, I still have a house on 2 Rai of land just outside of the town, that I'd love to sell.
I could have vlogged it if i were still there, perhaps next time
How much would you sell it for 😅 or would you rent it out?
Backpackers, destroying every indigenous area they stumbled on for decades. Adult children at play. What an horrendous town that has become.
Those look Hippy Village !! 🤣
For sure you influence people. But I think in a good way. 😊
I was in Kho Phan Gan 30 years ago, I don't go back because it will never be the same. The time before 7/11 came to the island and fucked it up with beer drinking youngsters from Europe on 3 weeks holiday. 😂
Haha we change and places change. When I first visited Pai in 94 there was about 5 falang tourists knocking about and probably about the same for long time stayers. 2 restaurants that served western food, one of which was closed in the slow season. I was a bit taken a back with the change when I went back around 2005, but at the same time glad there's hopefully more opertunities for the lovely people of Pai. We just have to appreciate what we find when we find it and accept things change.
Pai in now just a string of so called "boutique" hotels a very little else,if it had a beach it would be a mini Patong.
Thanks for the heads up, never going anywhere near the ghetto called Pai. I'm very sorry for the Thais that have to put up with all that.
OMG looks so naff like a bad day in Brighton lol.
Those markets would have smelt a bit ripe from all those soap dodging hippies even with the smell of weed in the air? 55555
OMG! What happened to Pai?? I was there about 6-7 years ago and i don't reconize the place.
Sorry to say it straight but it looks a f-up version of itself and look the same as example Koh Lipe without the beach.
You almost want to upload my video walking in Pai at that time to show you the difference.
And yes, i am more than 50 but in thailand i feel young because they always say i look like 35 LOL
It's everywhere. It's a free, free city in Thailand. Only you don't break the law.
Ryan You are simply an adult, I'm 57! Now I'm getting old:)
cheers!
Looking at the Pai Saturday Market... Not my cup of tea. Neither are all of those Soi's of Pattaya or other tourist bar streets. It kinda feels like the two opposite extremes of the same thing i.e. places where you find more tourists than locals. Something in between would be great, but if I have to choose, then I guess that Pai Market would be better being more feel-good than agro. Oh well... To each, his or her own.
Definitely not for everyone 👍
Going to Pai next month, was looking forward to it until I saw this video 😂
I’m 76 what that means??😊😊😊
You are as young as you feel 😁
So you say you run farms and sell things on a website
So how easy was it for you to get a work permit and what was the cost ???
its abit complicated so i may do a video in future.
hHaving started 3 companies here and my wife holding a degree in finance and accounting it was easy
its cheap to start (40k THB) but somewhat expensive to maintain since you need 2 full time Thai staff, social security and tax
I like PAI the climate is v pleasant and the scenery not bad , but it is also a hot bed for a load of pretentious spiritual ****ers.
I'll just make this comment re drinking. I have spent my entire life working in the nightclub/party scene where drinking is common. In my experience there are people who can drink and people who cannot. In general there are more commercial type scenes that have a lot of unpleasant behaviour and the more underground scenes where people are really very good with drink. I find that with weed strengths now, there a lot of travellers that are getting really quite disturbed while just having what they think might be a regular joint and it ending up to be pure heavy hybridised to heck gear. You see this all the time in Thailand now and it isn't really discussed. No it's not a huge issue, but in a social setting it can result in a not very social atmosphere.
Pai 20 years ago was a great place , laid back and chilled , now it's like a 18 -30s party town , their are still pockets of interesting expats and travelers , but for my the laid back easy going vibe has gone😥
Ill pass 😅
Bongo bongo land and knit your own yogurt, no thanks.
Don’t need to drink but do need to smoke. Which is worse
Had Pai on my bucket list after watching your vlog of your previous visit. Not any more though, unless there's a very different side of the place that you show us on this trip.
Hippies, weed, maybe market stalls selling products not made by Thais, entertainment (official or casual) with no Thais playing instruments that I could see. Maybe a number of Digital Nomads under the radar. Sounds like a good time for Police and Immigration to make themselves known to the crowds
Ryan you are the anti-influencer! I've never gotten those vibes from you. You're simply sharing your life in a beautifully candid way without any pretence to "influencing" anybody. Much love!
good to know and thank you!
That would be my worst nightmare .horrible
Wow it’s amazing that not one person dancing has any rhythm 😝
Thanks for the video. Young backpackers scene.. weed etc. Any muay thai?
Yes lots of Muay Thai and you may enjoy my interview with an addict in a coming vlog that got sober using Muay Thai 🙏
@@thenakedguru clean and sober 34 years. Came to Thailand 93.. teaching scuba Phuket until tsunami
Moved up to Patts started muay thai 2006. Nothing serious, but it's a great work out and great venue to meet
People.. since I haven't been in a bar for 34 years.. started my own charity 12 years ago buriram.. I drive up
Twice per month with supplies.. used to be bicycles.. now cellphones.. food and บาท
Great life.. But , I don't travel anywhere without muay thai.. cheers
First visited in '95. Was proper rustic then, bamboo cottage accommodation for around 80B, night life was playing outdoor pool tables listening to pirated cassette tape music when there wasn't a powercut..