Pai, Thailand
Encyclopedia
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
's Mae Hong Son Province
Mae Hong Son Province
Most of the areas of Mae Hong Son Province are complex mountain ranges and likely still pristine virgin forest. Of the approximately 6,976,650 rai of national forest reserves, 88.02% is thought to be pristine virgin forest...
, near the Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
border, about 50 miles/80 km north of Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. It is the capital of Chiang Mai Province , a former capital of the Kingdom of Lanna and was the tributary Kingdom of Chiang Mai from 1774 until 1939. It is...
on the northern route to Mae Hong Son
Mae Hong Son
Mae Hong Son ) is a town in north west Thailand, capital of the Mae Hong Son Province. It is located in the Shan Hills, near the border with Burma along the banks of the river Pai...
. It lies along the Pai River
Pai River
The Pai River originates in mountainous Pai, Mae Hong Son Province. The river flows down to Mueang Mae Hong Son district. The river tributes the Salween River in Kayah State, Myanmar. It is 180 km long. Located close to the Myanmar border, the Pai river offers several rafting options. The...
. The town has thesaban tambon status and covers parts of the tambon
Tambon
Tambon is a local government unit in Thailand. Below district and province , they form the third administrative subdivision level. As of the 2009 there are 7255 tambon, not including the 169 khwaeng of Bangkok, which are set at the same administrative level, thus every district contains 8-10 tambon...
Wiang Tai of Pai district
Amphoe Pai
Pai is the northeasternmost district of Mae Hong Son Province, northern Thailand.-Geography:Neighboring are Mueang Mae Hong Son, Pangmapha of Mae Hong Son Province, Shan State of Myanmar, Wiang Haeng, Chiang Dao, Mae Taeng, Samoeng and Galyani Vadhana of Chiang Mai Province.The important rivers...
. As of 2006, it has a population of 2,284.
Access
Pai is located on Route 1095, which connects Mae Hong SonMae Hong Son
Mae Hong Son ) is a town in north west Thailand, capital of the Mae Hong Son Province. It is located in the Shan Hills, near the border with Burma along the banks of the river Pai...
with Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. It is the capital of Chiang Mai Province , a former capital of the Kingdom of Lanna and was the tributary Kingdom of Chiang Mai from 1774 until 1939. It is...
. The Pai Airport, which had been decommissioned for 20 years, was paved and refurbished in 2005-6, and on 1 February 2007, Siam General Aviation began daily passenger service to and from Chiang Mai International Airport
Chiang Mai International Airport
Chiang Mai International Airport is located in Chiang Mai, Thailand.Chiang Mai International Airport is the major gateway to the north of Thailand, and currently the third busiest airport in the country. As of 2010, 17 airlines operate services and more than 3,000,000 passengers, 15,000 flights...
.
Tourism and Development
Pai was once a quiet market village inhabited by Shan people (ethnic TaiTai peoples
The Tai ethnicity refers collectively to the ethnic groups of southern China and Southeast Asia, stretching from Hainan to eastern India and from southern Sichuan to Laos, Thailand, and parts of Vietnam, which speak languages in the Tai family and share similar traditions and festivals, including...
whose culture is influenced by Burma; see the History section below), but nowadays Pai primarily thrives on tourism. Well-known among backpackers for its relaxed atmosphere, the town is full of cheap guesthouses, souvenir shops and restaurants. In the proximity of the town are spas and elephant camps. Further outside of town, there are several waterfalls and a number of natural hot springs varying in temperature from 80 to 200 degrees Celsius. Some resorts tap the hot springs and feed hot water into private bungalows and public pools. As Pai lies at the foot of the mountains, many tourists use it as a base for trekking and visiting hill tribes like Karen
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
, Hmong
Hmong people
The Hmong , are an Asian ethnic group from the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Hmong are also one of the sub-groups of the Miao ethnicity in southern China...
, Lisu and Lahu
Lahu people
The Lahu are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia and China.They are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where about 450,000 live in Yunnan province. An estimated 150,000 live in Burma. In Thailand, Lahu are one of the six main hill tribes; their...
. Another notable attraction is the town's excellent Wednesday Market which brings large and colorful crowds of local villagers and tribal people from all around the Pai Valley.
7-Eleven
7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co...
s, several small- to medium-size luxury resorts, totaling more than 350 accommodation properties,, several live music clubs, beer bars and two sets of traffic lights. This has done little to dampen the small and peaceful spirit of the town out of season. However, it has led to a recent influx of business investment and land speculation by both farang (non-Asian foreigners) and big city Thais. While some hail these sweeping changes as a new age of prosperity for Pai, others point to the loss of Pai's traditional customs and culture.
In the tourist high season of November through March there are large numbers of tourists. Prior to 2006, foreign tourists predominated, but now Thai tourists make up the vast majority, particularly after Pai was featured in two popular, Thai-made romantic movies, The Letter: Jod Mai Rak
The Letter: Jod Mai Rak
The Letter is a 2004 romance-drama film directed by Pa-oon Chantarasiri. It is a remake of Pyeon ji, a 1997 South Korean film by director Lee Jeong-Kuk.-Plot:...
and Ruk Jung
Ruk jung
Ruk Jung is a 2006 Thai romantic-comedy film directed by Haeman Chatemee and starring "Film" Ratchaphoom Tokongsup and Paula Taylor.- Plot :...
. During high season, tourist numbers swell to the point where Pai experiences traffic jams, as well as shortages of electricity, water, and petrol.
Pai has music festivals regularly as well as staging an International Enduro
Enduro
Enduro is a form of motorcycle sport run on courses that are predominantly off-road. Enduro consists of many different obstacles and challenges...
Championship.
History
Unless otherwise indicated, the information in this section is based on local Pai resident Thomas Kasper's history of Pai:The area of modern-day Pai has been inhabited for more than 5,000 years. About 2,000 years ago, the Lua (or Lawa
Lawa people
Lawa are an ethnic group in Laos and northern Thailand. They lived there before Thai people arrived. Today they live often in their traditional way of life, often professing animism. As the other mountain ethnic groups of Thailand, they are known for extraordinary craft skills...
) Tribe was the dominant ethnic group all over the area of today's northern Thailand, and a few of their descendants still live in villages only about 20km away from Pai.
The recorded history of the area starts about 800 years ago with the establishment of a settlement (today known as Ban Wiang Nuea) about 3km north of modern-day Pai. Ban Wiang Nuea was founded in 1251 AD by Shan immigrants from the region of modern-day northern Burma. Due to the area's remoteness and seclusion, people in those times were mainly cut off from news of the outside world and therefore not much concerned with the politics of Lanna
Lanna
The Kingdom of Lanna was a kingdom centered in present-day northern Thailand from the 13th to 18th centuries. The cultural development of the people of Lanna, the Tai Yuan people, had begun long before as successive Tai Yuan kingdoms preceded Lanna...
and the rest of Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. That changed drastically in the course of the 14th and 15th century, when the first settlers arrived from Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. It is the capital of Chiang Mai Province , a former capital of the Kingdom of Lanna and was the tributary Kingdom of Chiang Mai from 1774 until 1939. It is...
. It was part of Lanna policy of the time to send citizens loyal to the Lanna throne to the outposts of the empire, in order to consolidate and affirm Lanna
Lanna
The Kingdom of Lanna was a kingdom centered in present-day northern Thailand from the 13th to 18th centuries. The cultural development of the people of Lanna, the Tai Yuan people, had begun long before as successive Tai Yuan kingdoms preceded Lanna...
's territorial authority. The result was a conflict that eventually led to a series of wars over territorial dominance in the Pai area. The Lanna troops finally defeated the Shan soldiers in 1481, forcing them to retire to Burmese territory. The Shan families who had lived in the area for a long time, establishing households, farming their land and raising their families, were granted permission to stay by the Lanna prince, along with a certain degree of cultural and social autonomy under the law and authority of the Lanna kingdom. Ban Wiang Nuea as a result became a village sharply divided into two parts by a wall into a "Shan" part and a "Lanna" part.
In the second half of the 19th century, colonial powers France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, who had already established their influence in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Burma, were viewing the area of modern-day Thailand with increasing interest. To consolidate Siam's influence and authority in the northern border region, the royal house encouraged Northern Thais from provinces like Payao, Lamphun and Nan to migrate to those areas. The result again was conflict: the last fight between Lanna Thai and Shan in Ban Wiang Nuea took place in 1869, when Lanna soldiers finally defeated their Shan opponents in a battle that ended with the total destruction of the village. The entire village was burnt to the ground. All structures standing in Ban Vieng Nuea today are the result of the subsequent rebuilding efforts of the villagers.
There was already a "road" (that took up to a week to traverse) leading from Chiang Mai to Pai in the late 19th century. This settlement was known as Ban Wiang Tai, and it developed into the modern town we know as Pai. Many of the new immigrants chose to settle in the area along the connecting network of trails to Mae Hong Son.
In 1943, the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese began several projects to create efficient troop and equipment transport routes between Thailand and Burma in support of their planned attacks on Imphal
Battle of Imphal
The Battle of Imphal took place in the region around the city of Imphal, the capital of the state of Manipur in North-East India from March until July 1944. Japanese armies attempted to destroy the Allied forces at Imphal and invade India, but were driven back into Burma with heavy losses...
and Kohima
Battle of Kohima
The Battle of Kohima was the turning point of the Japanese U Go offensive into India in 1944 in the Second World War. The battle was fought from 4 April to 22 June 1944 around the town of Kohima in northeast India. It is often referred to as the "Stalingrad of the East".The battle took place in...
. In addition to the well-known Death Railway
Death Railway
The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, the Thailand–Burma Railway and similar names, was a railway between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma , built by the Empire of Japan during World War II, to support its forces in the Burma campaign.Forced labour was used in its construction...
through Kanchanaburi
Death Railway
The Burma Railway, also known as the Death Railway, the Thailand–Burma Railway and similar names, was a railway between Bangkok, Thailand, and Rangoon, Burma , built by the Empire of Japan during World War II, to support its forces in the Burma campaign.Forced labour was used in its construction...
, one of these projects was the improvement of the existing "road" from Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. It is the capital of Chiang Mai Province , a former capital of the Kingdom of Lanna and was the tributary Kingdom of Chiang Mai from 1774 until 1939. It is...
to Pai and the patchwork of trails on to Mae Hong Son
Mae Hong Son
Mae Hong Son ) is a town in north west Thailand, capital of the Mae Hong Son Province. It is located in the Shan Hills, near the border with Burma along the banks of the river Pai...
. The method of crossing the Pai River about 10 km southeast of the City of Pai is not, at present, verifiable. A bridge at that site was erected after the war and erroneously titled 'World War II Memorial Bridge'. It was apparently erected (and subsequently twice extended) in the course of road improvement projects by the Thai government. The Japanese attempt to develop a road connection between Chiang Mai to Pai and on to Mae Hong Son was abandoned in early 1944 when it became evident that the improvements could not be completed in time for the scheduled attack on Imphal. The uncompleted road did serve as an avenue of retreat for the Japanese after their disastrous defeat at Imphal and Kohima.
In 1967, the Thai government started developing the road leading from Chiang Mai via Pai to Mae Hong Son, known today as Route 1095, but didn't finish paving the route until the early- to mid-1990s.
Pai's recent history is one of waves of migration: in addition to the aforementioned waves of old Shan and Lanna immigrants, Karen
Karen people
The Karen or Kayin people , are a Sino-Tibetan language speaking ethnic group which resides primarily in southern and southeastern Burma . The Karen make up approximately 7 percent of the total Burmese population of approximately 50 million people...
immigrants arrived in the 18th century, Lisu and Lahu people
Lahu people
The Lahu are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia and China.They are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where about 450,000 live in Yunnan province. An estimated 150,000 live in Burma. In Thailand, Lahu are one of the six main hill tribes; their...
from areas of southern China arrived in the early 20th century, Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
families from Chiang Mai began arriving to establish trade businesses starting around 1950, a group of Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
fleeing Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
established a community in Pai in the early 1960s, and finally a new wave of refugees from the Shan State
Shan State
Shan State is a state of Burma . Shan State borders China to the north, Laos to the east, and Thailand to the south, and five administrative divisions of Burma in the west. Largest of the 14 administrative divisions by land area, Shan State covers 155,800 km², almost a quarter of the total...
of Burma have arrived in the last few decades, fleeing the turmoil caused by the Burmese Junta to work as laborers in Thailand.
Flood of 2005
Pai suffered a huge mudslide and severe flooding in 2005, resulting in major structural damage to homes, resorts, storefronts, and bridges. The town had almost completely recovered by the time the 2006 high season began.Controversy over Police Conduct
Although it is a sleepy town in the mountains, Pai has over the past decade generated an unusual amount of controversy (even for Thailand) concerning the conduct of its local police, as well as the conduct of Thai drug enforcement police operating there. This is partially due to the proximity of Pai to drug routes from the Shan StateShan State
Shan State is a state of Burma . Shan State borders China to the north, Laos to the east, and Thailand to the south, and five administrative divisions of Burma in the west. Largest of the 14 administrative divisions by land area, Shan State covers 155,800 km², almost a quarter of the total...
in Burma, however given the post-2000 rise in incidents involving foreign tourists, it is evident that other factors are also at work. Some examples of this clear long-term trend in Pai include:
- On December 24, 2001, the local Pai police arrested and jailed the owner of Bebop bar, with the rather dubious explanation that he was "letting people danceDanceDance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
in a place of business not officially licensed as a ‘disco.’" After this event, both Bebop and Mountain Blue received additional discriminatory treatment in the form of illegal, or uneven, application of Thailand's closing-time laws. The so-called "dancing ban" by the Thai Police became a famous and well-known joke which business owners are still talking about in 2008.
- Also in 2001, and again in 2003, Pai district officials and police began enforcing several illegal measures ostensibly aimed at increasing "safety" for the local tourists, specifically "a ‘recommendation’ via illegal denial of permits whereby all guesthouses must have walls made from a solid material, such as wood, gypsum, compressed fibre or cement" rather than the cheaper and more traditional bamboo favored by many guesthouse owners and low-budget backpackers. Most locals suspected other motives were involved, including both a desire to "weed out" low-budget tourists and to encourage higher-priced construction that would generate higher construction kickbacks. Several locals pointed out uneven enforcement of these laws for different businesses, depending on personal relationships with the police or district officials.
- The so-called "War on Drugs" launched in February 2003 by former (now deposed) Prime Minister Thaksin ShinawatraThaksin ShinawatraThaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....
, in which "more than 2,000 people in Thailand were killed as the government effectively declared 'open season' on those accused of involvement in the drug trade,", took a heavy toll on Pai districtAmphoe PaiPai is the northeasternmost district of Mae Hong Son Province, northern Thailand.-Geography:Neighboring are Mueang Mae Hong Son, Pangmapha of Mae Hong Son Province, Shan State of Myanmar, Wiang Haeng, Chiang Dao, Mae Taeng, Samoeng and Galyani Vadhana of Chiang Mai Province.The important rivers...
and downtown Pai in particular. Many locals whose family members were murdered without investigation now take an extremely skeptical view towards any police action here. - In 2006, the Pai Police purchased a new mobile drug testing vehicle, and there have been numerous reported instances of the police entering bars and other establishments and randomly urine-testing foreign tourists. In many of these cases it is apparent that the searches were not performed legally. In Thailand, "when requesting urinalysisUrinalysisA urinalysis , also known as Routine and Microscopy , is an array of tests performed on urine, and one of the most common methods of medical diagnosis...
for drug identification purposes, at least one member of the Narcotics Suppression Police must be present. Regular Thai police do not have this right, nor do the Tourist Police. Second of all, there must be probable cause.". In most cases, apprehended suspects are detained in Mae Hong Son jail for a few days, then released with a "fine" typically on the order of 5,000-10,000 baht.
- On January 5, 2008, Pai made national and international news when an off-duty police officer, Sgt-Major Uthai Dechawiwat, fatally shot Canadian tourist Leo John Del Pinto, and shot and wounded a second Canadian tourist Carly Reisig, fleeing the scene immediately after the event. Nearly all involved believe that both the policeman and suspects were drunk at the time. Official police reports differ widely from eye-witness reports and it is expected that the officer will be acquitted by the Thai Justice system. In an extremely unusual development which highlights the deep integrity issues that exist with the Pai police, reporter Andrew Drummond published an editorial in The Nation where he expressed his regrets for publishing views from all sides of the story in his earlier Nation article because:
"While the facts presented were true, they have been wrongly taken in a malicious way by many...What the journalist cannot convey sometimes is his opinion of whether the witnesses are telling the truth or show immediately what links these witnesses have to the police....I am very concerned at several aspects of this case:
- The police claiming that Reisig was pregnant and this had angered a jealous foreign boyfriend.
- The claims by the police shooter that he had been out of town before the shooting, when other witnesses were saying the officer was drinking heavily that night in Pai.
- The threats to prosecute Reisig for assault on police.
- The automatic bail for the police gunman.
- The fact that local police are investigating themselves.
- The claims that the gun had discharged three times accidentally."
- In a January, 2008 editorial published in Chiang Mai CityLife (submitted in December, 2007), anonymous author "A Tourist" eerily anticipates the January, 2008 shooting in his/her strongly worded objection to excessive police actions in Pai:
"I have noticed another significant change over the last year, which is the reason for writing this letter. The method of law enforcement in this small town needs to be seriously examined....I accept that changes are necessary. I also agree that noise pollution should be carefully monitored and controlled, as should drug abuse and any other illegal acts or unpleasant kinds of behaviour, but we ought not to be scared to leave our homes (or guesthouses)! ... One Saturday in particular remains in my memory, where several police officers decided to inspect a party at a bar in town. I believe that they were looking for drugs. I along with many other tourists was especially shocked to see that one officer was carrying a machine gun...This kind of behaviour is likely to scare tourists and leave very negative impressions on them with regards to Pai town as a holiday destination...The police are also actively confiscating other vehicles, testing individuals at random for drugs and alcohol abuse, detaining owners of restaurants and bars for remaining open past the agreed time, and generally making a lot of noise in a relatively quiet town that did not appear to have many problems beforehand....The increased police presence is clearly visible and does not, in my opinion, make Pai town look like a place one would like to visit. There is also a general feeling of unrest here and I feel that it is quite obvious to the tourist travelling through. The police are unapproachable and menacing. This has a strong negative impact on the atmosphere here in Pai town. The previously friendly and welcoming town appears to have changed into a place where everyone is afraid to even walk down the street in case they are accused of doing something wrong. Should the police not be employed to protect civilians? Should they not be approachable in case I or someone else requires some help? They are certainly not even close to doing what a police force is meant to do."