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
For some people it can be seen as a shallow question. I understand where you are coming from but I used to hang out with hippies in my teens and early 20s. Judging by the crowd, I think they may be of the same mindset. It's a normal question.... except in places like Pai.
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 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.
There is a great project in England called the Woodland Initiative where middle aged English men are chipping in to buy land to live off grid away from the madness or simply camp. This is not a scam look into it.
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!
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.
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...
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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").
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
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
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
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
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.
When I was in Thailand 20 years ago I made local friends in different places, Koh Phan Gaan, Krabi province, Hua Hin area. I always asked who were the nations that were difficult and rude. They always said American and Israeli. I went to Phi Phi and I saw a group of 8 - 10 Israelis eating food on the beach with all the plastic containers and cutlery. When they finished lunch they just got up and left all their rubbish on the beach and walked off. A few of us said "hey.. what are you doing" They just acted like how dare we ask them and one of the women started shouting at us. I'm sure everyone isn't like this from those countries of course and I have met many nice people from there but some people (mostly wealthy it seems) seem to think they can just do what they want and show little respect. As for middle class kids finding themselves, smoking weed, doing mushrooms and dancing with hat stands and giving off a vibe I describe as "smug oneness" it's not for me. Been there, done that. I learned that these subcultures and the people in them are often just as bad if not worse than the thing they are claiming to be an alternative to. Lots of talk and 'bonding' over what's wrong with the world but mostly lacking in real depth, intelligence and appreciation of reality. As a musician I also struggled with many of the well meaning but appalling jam sessions featuring numerous hand drums. This all sounds negative but as we all know you can meet loads of great people travelling.. it's just when the groups get larger and more organised and adopt certain philosophies I tend to see the same problems again and again. Fakeness, crap organisation, smugness, power struggles, controlling people, people who talk freedom but can't handle other people's views etc. I'm getting older now so perspective changes and you see the same thing over and over but if you're lucky to find good people along the way.. nurture those relationships.. but if you're young, understand.. there is no answer. Just a lot people and a million different realities none of which are yours. Find your people and look after yourself and the things you care about and you'll do ok.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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..
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!
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...
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
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
That's all you fkn need - swarms of millennials try to find themselves when you're trying to chill out... ruined! But don't worry, Gen Z will save us all...
Hi Ryan Been following you since 2021 42 years old brother from handforth near Manchester airport . Keep up the great vlogs brother . I will be out there up north in the next 5 years . Hopefully meet up one day . Keep on living the dream ❤
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!
When I was 30 I still felt like a kid of 18. At 58 I'm just starting to feel like I'm becoming a bit more of an adult. Of course I still feel like I'm young.
Yep, these days Thailand is too built up. I was last up North in 1973 for 3 months to build a house for my then Mother in Law. I even went into Burma - for about 5 minutes, as the soldiers had me go back to Thailand...LOL These days I live in Udon...
I Visited Northern Thailand 15 years ago when I was 36. I didn’t feel old then nor now. Really enjoying your videos. It certainly wasn’t an open place for certain things then, certainly shows the world is changing.👍
That was interesting. I'm an aging Deadhead that now enjoys the (sometimes) quieter life in rural Thailand. At one time in my life, Pai would've been right up there with Amsterdam as a place to experience for a few weeks.
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
I was told that wealthy thais from bangkok invested in hotels.shops .and properties after the tsunami..?
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 😂
Thanks for the warning will stay clear 😂
🤣🙏
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 😂✌️❣️🇹🇭
Hipsters hangin in hammocks.. man buns.. my worst nitemare.. but crack on .. lol
🤣🤣
Don't forget the Elephant pants!
All those dudes banging on drums would drive me mad, Pai used to be good 20 years ago, even 10, just spoilt now.
Everybody is all huggy feeley but they clam right up when you ask them how they earn their money.
For some people it can be seen as a shallow question. I understand where you are coming from but I used to hang out with hippies in my teens and early 20s. Judging by the crowd, I think they may be of the same mindset. It's a normal question.... except in places like Pai.
How is it your business how they make their money and how much?
In most of the world, it's a rude question from someone with no manners.
What a beautiful place Pai is, but all the hippie types puts me off.
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. 😊
After watching this video I have just scratched Pai off my bucket list!
💯
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.
There is a great project in England called the Woodland Initiative where middle aged English men are chipping in to buy land to live off grid away from the madness or simply camp. This is not a scam look into it.
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!
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 :)
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?
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.
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...
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.
Pai looks so nice and chill. I will go there one day. Love all the positive energy and vibes ❤
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.
Was there in 2003, prefer to remember how it was. I have zero respect for todays younger self obsessed, entitled crowd in Thailand
Yep. 👍
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.
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 "
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! 😁
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.
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.
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").
Everytime I see a party in Pai on YT its always drum and bass/jungle music playing
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.
Fair play that place looks horrendous 😂 love your channel
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
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
Looks good ... Where is it? ... Probably a good idea to put up some intro maps for those who aren't regularly following your channel. Cheers
Been to Pai before, love it then. That marked look scary to me. Off my list now :(
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
Drum circles are always garbage lol😂
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
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.
Ryan You are simply an adult, I'm 57! Now I'm getting old:)
cheers!
I think you tried focaccia bread.
yep that place is gone.
When I was in Thailand 20 years ago I made local friends in different places, Koh Phan Gaan, Krabi province, Hua Hin area. I always asked who were the nations that were difficult and rude. They always said American and Israeli. I went to Phi Phi and I saw a group of 8 - 10 Israelis eating food on the beach with all the plastic containers and cutlery. When they finished lunch they just got up and left all their rubbish on the beach and walked off. A few of us said "hey.. what are you doing" They just acted like how dare we ask them and one of the women started shouting at us. I'm sure everyone isn't like this from those countries of course and I have met many nice people from there but some people (mostly wealthy it seems) seem to think they can just do what they want and show little respect.
As for middle class kids finding themselves, smoking weed, doing mushrooms and dancing with hat stands and giving off a vibe I describe as "smug oneness" it's not for me. Been there, done that. I learned that these subcultures and the people in them are often just as bad if not worse than the thing they are claiming to be an alternative to. Lots of talk and 'bonding' over what's wrong with the world but mostly lacking in real depth, intelligence and appreciation of reality. As a musician I also struggled with many of the well meaning but appalling jam sessions featuring numerous hand drums.
This all sounds negative but as we all know you can meet loads of great people travelling.. it's just when the groups get larger and more organised and adopt certain philosophies I tend to see the same problems again and again. Fakeness, crap organisation, smugness, power struggles, controlling people, people who talk freedom but can't handle other people's views etc. I'm getting older now so perspective changes and you see the same thing over and over but if you're lucky to find good people along the way.. nurture those relationships.. but if you're young, understand.. there is no answer. Just a lot people and a million different realities none of which are yours. Find your people and look after yourself and the things you care about and you'll do ok.
These people are a little bit late for Woodstock.😂
Looks like a fun place to visit, maybe a short visit. Loved the video, thanks.
That reminds me of when I used to follow the Grateful Dead many years ago 🤙🏼
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.
Very touristic not authentic anymore.. thanks for showing it. Not going up to Pai anymore.
Beautiful ❤
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.
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.
Wait until you hit 75, mind feels 35, body screams" SLOW DOWN"
I'm not sure if joint and sober should be in the same sentence but we know what it is.
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.
mushroom
Since November 2021, I have been there seven times, and each visit has been progressively less pleasant.
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.
I'm planning to do the Mai Hong Son loop on a motorbike in 2026. After seeing this I'm worried that I won't be able to find a good steak for dinner!
In Australia this would be Nimbin.
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 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.
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.
Ripgroove blasting out in the background - almost makes my teeth chatter just to hear that tune again.
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.
OMG looks so naff like a bad day in Brighton lol.
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
Pai was great before Ganja flower power returned even more motorcycle accidents but Yes man life goes on for some
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..
Wow it’s amazing that not one person dancing has any rhythm 😝
Thankfully I spent a lot of time in pai in the mid nineties. Its totally destroyed now.
Those markets would have smelt a bit ripe from all those soap dodging hippies even with the smell of weed in the air? 55555
What a fabulous laid back place to be, especially if you don't mind a bit of second hand smoke.
Charles "the Serpent" Sobhraj would love it there.
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!
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...
Don’t need to drink but do need to smoke. Which is worse
Bongo bongo land and knit your own yogurt, no thanks.
Excellent video ryan. Thoroughly enjoyed
Glad you enjoyed it
Jazmyn Station
Enjoy yourself and take care
Thanks Lillian 🙏
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 👍
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
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
That's all you fkn need - swarms of millennials try to find themselves when you're trying to chill out... ruined!
But don't worry, Gen Z will save us all...
Your vaccinated arnt you
@@MJY3692 ...you're
@@MJY3692 I also went to school...
Very interesting video. The toxic comments under this video are a further reminder that I need to escape the west.
Hi Ryan
Been following you since 2021
42 years old brother from handforth near Manchester airport . Keep up the great vlogs brother . I will be out there up north in the next 5 years . Hopefully meet up one day . Keep on living the dream ❤
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!
I look forward.... bat not Pai... Bullshit 😮
When I was 30 I still felt like a kid of 18. At 58 I'm just starting to feel like I'm becoming a bit more of an adult. Of course I still feel like I'm young.
A bunch of hippies that’s all I can see
Backpackers, destroying every indigenous area they stumbled on for decades. Adult children at play. What an horrendous town that has become.
Shame on the Pai locals who allowed this to happen. The new foreigners generation is destroying much of Thailand.
Yep, these days Thailand is too built up. I was last up North in 1973 for 3 months to build a house for my then Mother in Law. I even went into Burma - for about 5 minutes, as the soldiers had me go back to Thailand...LOL These days I live in Udon...
Millennials have it too good without a clue.
I Visited Northern Thailand 15 years ago when I was 36. I didn’t feel old then nor now. Really enjoying your videos. It certainly wasn’t an open place for certain things then, certainly shows the world is changing.👍
Going to Pai next month, was looking forward to it until I saw this video 😂
Are there even any Thais left in Pai?
No need to make that a stop for me.
That was interesting.
I'm an aging Deadhead that now enjoys the (sometimes) quieter life in rural Thailand.
At one time in my life, Pai would've been right up there with Amsterdam as a place to experience for a few weeks.
Beautiful video God bless you all always stay safe 🙏 ❤️ 💛
I really enjoy the vlogs! Thank you, Ryan. I appreciate it. Looking forward to the next one.🤩😊🙏
Glad you like them!
Enjoying your channel and this adventure Ryan 👌
Glad you enjoy it!