Pai is a small community, embraced by rolling mountains and enveloped in natural setting that is fresh and beautiful. The atmosphere is clean, pure, quiet and warmly welcoming. The different ethnic groups, religious beliefs and languages of the people of plains and the people of the mountains have blended together here to form a unique set of cultural traditions.

     The citizens of Pai live their lives with a spirit of generosity and a sense of community, always ready to give someone a helping hand. Yet at the same time, the remoteness of the region makes travel to and from Pai difficult. Many people would rather not come and risk their chances in such an isolated place. However, many other people entrust their luck to fate in this very spot, and others dream of having just one chance in their lives to come and experience the summit of the north of  Thailand.

     Pai can be found to the northwest of  Bangkok, 1035 kilometers along the main roads, at19.15 degrees - 19.30 degrees latitude north and at 98.15 degrees – 98.30 degrees longitude east. AT its lowest, Pai is 508 meters from sea level. The highest summit, Doi Jik Jong, which can be seen from Pai, is 1,972 meters from sea level. You can climb this mountain and experience the tropical forest and virgin jungle of the area.

     Pai is one of 7 districts in Mae Hong Son province, lying in the northeast of the province,  111 kilometers from the town of  Mae Hong Son and 135 kilometers from Chiang Mai.

     The geographical climate comes from the surrounding landscape ; a cool wind blows all day long from the mountains into the valley. The wind, which blows throughout all seasons, is the southwest monsoon from Indian Ocean, bringing freshness and rain in the rainy season. The northwest monsoon,which blows from the central part of China, brings the chill and dryness of the winter season

     The Seasons
               1. In the hot season the sun beats straight down and the valley becomes very hot from the middle of February until the middle of May.
The hottest month is April, with temperatures as high as 42 degree Celsius.
               2. The rainy searon is brought by the southwest monsoon, bringing rain all over from the middle of February until the middle of October. The wettest month is September.
               3. The winter season is brought by the northeast monsoon, beginning in November and ending in the middle of February. It becomes cold and dry everywhere, with heavy mists. January is the coldest month, with ground temperatures averaging 2 degrees Celsius.

     Natural Resources
               There are 3 kinds of evergreen forest: dry tropical, mountain jungle and mountain pine. There are 2 kinds of deciduous forests: those with many different varieties of trees,and hardwood forest. Within these 2 kinds of forests there are many kinds of trees, for example, teak, Siamese Sal, Ingyin, Leguminosae, Dipterocarpacae, pine, wild bamboo, orchid. There are so many kinds of wild herbs and plants that the villagers use for food, medicine and as materials for building houses. But nowadays, many of the big trees have been cut down, especially teakwood,which is all but finished, due to the rising population of a society that has become increasingly materialistic.

     In the forest there are still some animals left, such as deer, wild pigs, wild chickens, gibbons, monkeys, monitor lizards and many different species of birds. Apart from this, there are many kinds of food in the forest, such as wild honey and different varieties of mushrooms.

     The rivers, of which Pai has several, are important to agriculture, such as the Pai river,the Mea Muang river, the Khong river and the Muang river. There are also two waterfalls, Mo Rang and Mae Yen, which are coll places for the villagers lerax.

     As for minerals, fluoride, tin, wolfram and scheelite have benn found.For netural energy, a small dam has been build at the source of river Pai to make electricity for use in the Pai district. There is also a project to tap into the underground  heat at the hot springs.

     The north of Pai district borders on the Shan State in Burma. The west borders on Mae Hong Son province. The east and the south border on
Chiang Mai district. The district measures 2,342 square kilometers. About 165 square kilometers or 7% of that is plains or flat ground.

     There are many theories on how Pai named . Some believe that the word Pai refers toa young bull elephant mentioned in Northern Thai chronicles . Some say the word derive from the fact that ancient relics belonging to the Lua tribe have been found in the district . The Lua were amongst the first settlers of the Pai district and were renowned as great warriors of the night devils who came out in the dark hours to wreak havoc . The local people called the devil Prai . Over the years the name was amended to Pai . Another explaination is that Pai was named after the leader of the Shan migrants who first established the village . Yet another interpretation , most likely the true one , translates the word Pai from the Shan language to mean “ migration ” . The word is pronounced Pai with a falling tone and means to escape migrate or move away . Over the years the tone and spelling were modified ti Pai . If the linguistics of the Shan and Northern Thai language are studied closely this interpretation seems the clearest .

     Historical documents state that the first community was established in the year 1251 by Shan people who were migrating from wars in the Shan state . They established the village near the site of old village that is called Wieng Nua , north of the present day Pai . The site they chose was abundant in natural resources and strategic base in time of war . This led to fighting between the Shan and Northern Thai for dominance in the area , during the reign of  King Mengrai when the northern Thais
held power and had a strong army .

     Northern chronicles mention the construction of a kingdom or domain called Chiang Saenthat was built 69 years before Chiang Mai . Around the year 1323 Pai was part of the Chiang Saen kingdom .

     The last war took place in 1869 , when Shan soldiers defeated Pai and burned the village down to the ground However , soldiers from Chiang Mai repulsed them in the end. After that, the village was moved to the location of what is the present village today.

     During the Bangkok era Thailand’s various kingdoms were joined together to form one unified country. The Chiang Mai or Lanna kingdom, of which Pai was a part, became unified with the rest of Thailand in 1911. On the 10th of May 1911 the Secretary of State of the defense Ministry announced that Mae Hong Son was formally a province and that Pai was one district within that province.

     During the Second World War the Japanese explored Pai and constructed a transportation route from Chiang Mai to Burma via Pai, which is the same road used up to the present day. The old route that the Japanese built during the occupation was hardly changed. This was the first time that Pai had received strangers from so far away.

     The Thai government developed the road and it was finished in 1980. The new road brought big changes and modernizations to Pai. There were many things of which the villagers had perhaps never dreamt that began to happen. About 5 years later in 1985, Pai welcomed its second set of visitors from afar. These travelers came from every corner of the globe with rucksacks on their backs in search of Pai. A television satellite was set up and the people of Pai were amazed to see their first long distance broadcasts.

     The local people of Pai have always lived according to a philosophy of Life that has its basis in Buddhist precepts. “ Het yu, het geen, het lu, het dan” means to work to live and to eat and to gain merit by making offerings at the temple and helping others.

     All that changed when the Thai government announced its first programmes for social and economic development in the 196os. A life that was once guided by religious precepts changed to a life led by the principles of soicio-economic development. This new set of values had a profound effect on the culture and tradition of the people.

     When a guiding principle is changed or weakened then culture and traditions are changedand weakened too. Don’t be surprised if what you read and what you see are not the same.For the following text is concerned with the original culture and traditions of the people of Pai, which are after all, the most interesting ones and have their roots in the Buddhist religion.

From : paitown.com