On the whole, the Mae Hong Son Loop was an unforgettable experience, as you’ll know if you read the essay I wrote after completing it. One of my best ever in Thailand, if I’m honest.
At the same time, not all its destinations are created equal. In fact, after arriving in the town of Pai (my first stop along the Loop) from Chiang Mai, I seriously wondered whether I had made a mistake.
Now, I don’t want to give too much away about where I’m going to land of my Pai vs Mae Hong Son comparison. But needless to say, these two towns are incredibly different, even though they’re only a few dozen miles apart as the crow flies.
Why the Mae Hong Son Loop is Worth Driving
The purpose of this post is to help you decide whether to visit Pai or Mae Hong Son, but if you drive the Mae Hong Son Loop, you’ll at least pass through both. You’ll probably spend at least a night in each, too. You see, while it’s technically possible to drive from Mae Hong Son all the way to Chiang Mai in one day, you’d have to skip a lot of amazing sights along the way in order to do so.
And the sights are amazing. Starting, in my opinion, just past Pai if you’re driving counterclockwise. Namely, the Doi Kiew Lum viewpoint and nearby Tham Lot cave. While the next major stop (the village of Ban Rak Thai) is underwhelming, Pha Suea Waterfall is very worth seeing. As are the cornucopia of attractions between Mae Hong Son and Mae Sariang, the next big town after it. But I’m getting ahead of myself!
Ways to Compare Pai and Mae Hong Son
Vibe
Mae Hong Son feels like what it is: A small city in a distance corner of Thailand just miles from the border with Myanmar. The few tourists who are there respect this, and seem to want to appreciate and enjoy it. Pai, on the other hand, feels like Bangkok’s Khao San Road in a rural setting; the local population seems to be tasked primarily with serving bro and babe tourists who are cosplaying as hippies.
Cityscape
While the wooden houses that line Pai’s main streets are charming, the town simply doesn’t have much of a defining urban character, unless of course you count the Big Buddha (which is so far from town you can barely see it from there). In Mae Hong Son, on the other hand, local landmarks like the Wat Chong Kham Shan temple and Chong Kham Lake leave it impossible to mistake where in Thailand you are.
Things to do
The main attractions in Pai, apart from Pai Walking Street, are all outside the city, with Pai Canyon being the most famous. Along the road to Mae Hong Son, you’ll find Tham Lot Cave; in Mae Hong Son itself, the hilltop temple of Wat Prathat Doi Kongmu is probably the main attraction, though Ban Rak Thai village (to the north) and Thung Bua Thong sunflower fields (to the south) are worth seeing on day trips.
Accommodation
Whether in Mae Hong Son or Pai, you shouldn’t expect five-star digs. On the other hand, while Mae Hong Son does have accommodations with a lot of character (I’m thinking about the five-star Fern Resort, where I stayed in the present day and Brangelina stayed 20 years ago), all the places you find in Pai are uniformly shabbier and more forgettable.
Getting there and around
The only realistic way to reach Pai is via private car or bus from Chiang Mai. Mae Hong Son, on the other hand, has an airport (and it’s right in the middle of town), though it’s only served by infrequent Bangkok Airways turboprop flights from Bangkok via Lampang. In both places, you’ll want to have your own set of wheels to get around, be that a car or motorbike.
How Many Days to Spend Along the Mae Hong Son Loop
When I first started plotting a Mae Hong Son Road trip, I was planning to spend about a week doing it. This would have meant a night in Pai and two each in Mae Hong Son and Mae Sariang, before continuing southward to Tak province. However, as time passed (which saw me reschedule the trip I’d initially planned not once but twice), I decided that one night in each major city—so Pai, Mae Hong Son and Mae Sariang—was just enough.
There’s an obvious disadvantage to this: You can’t dig too deep into the Mae Hong Son Loop if you spend just a single night in each place. On the other hand, it saves you from having to decide between Mae Hong Son vs Pai. And, if you end up disliking any place as much as I disliked Pai, it means you won’t have to stay there long enough for it to ruin your trip.
Other FAQ About Pai and Mae Hong Son
How to get from Pai to Mae Hong Son?
The easiest way from Pai to Mae Hong Son is to drive. This can take between 3-7 hours (wide range, I know), depending upon how many places you stop. If you stop at Tham Lot Cave and in Ban Rak Thai it’ll be closer to seven hours, while only a direct journey guarantees a transit time of three hours or thereabouts.
Is Mae Hong Son safe?
Mae Hong Son Town is perfectly safe. Traveling in the province, however, bears some dangers, namely those associated with driving in Thailand. Make sure to be defensive and vigilant if you rent a car (or, especially, a motorbike) when traveling in Mae Hong Son.
Is there malaria in Mae Hong Son?
On paper, Mae Hong Son is one of the Thai provinces with the highest incidences of Malaysia. In practice, however, you’re unlikely to fall victim to it unless there is an ongoing outbreak. You can guard against even the possibility of this by wearing a DEET-based mosquito repellent every time you go outside after nightfall.
The Bottom Line
For me, comparing Pai vs Mae Hong Son isn’t much of a contest. While I can acknowledge the reasons that some travelers love Pai, it is by far the weakest major destination in Mae Hong Son province for me. The town itself is underwhelming, the types of travelers who go there (and, more importantly, who tend to love it) are…not my people. Mae Hong Son, on the other hand, was a revelation, and is definitely a place I’ll return in the future. Regardless of which town you end up preferring, I’m sure you’ll love the Mae Hong Son Loop as a whole. You can ensure this by hiring me to plan your Thailand trip.
