pai is amazing . it ' s small so you can walk everywhere . all the sites worth seeing can be reached by motorbike . I would suggest giving yourself at least three days there . book tickets tofrom chiang mai a few days in advance as they tend to sell out quickly . if you ' re confident in motorbike skills , you can drive there from chiang mai and they ' ll take your bags up for you in a mini van . I stayed at Happy House Hostel for 200 baht dorm bed a night . they have cheap beer and the staff speaks english . the vibe was really chill but lots of backpackers so there were plenty of friends to be made . clean , comfortable beds . I booked four nights initially and stayed for six ! pai has a night market walking street every single night . the food is incredible and cheap . don ' t waste your time at restaurants for dinner here , the night market is better than any food establishment . as for sights , check outpai canyon sai ngam hot springs cheaper than pai hot springs but make sure everyone has their own bike as the roads are require a little bit more power to go onlod cavelove in coffee great coffeestrawberry love cute cafemor paeng waterfall for bars , follow this list in order through out the night . the night scene in pai moves as the night goes on ! sabal barwhy not baredible jazzspirit barboom bardon ' t cry bari ' ve heard that sunset bar has mushroom shakes , but didn ' t get to try them . if that ' s something you ' re into it could be worth checking out ! if you like swimming or need to nurse a hangover for the day , check out fluid pool . it ' s not fancy but it ' s fun . 60 baht to get in and there ' s a lot of lounge space in the sun and in the shade . the pool is clean and the fooddrinks are delicious and fairly priced . for breakfast i suggest breakfast bar , om garden cafe , and boomelicious . hope this helps ! i ' ve been in thailand for a month and pai has been the coolest part of the trip so far . in chiang mai , if you haven ' t been to Birds Nest Cafe or Cat House , i suggest both of those spots for breakfast . for islands , i ' ve only been to ko samui but i definitely don ' t suggest it . it was so touristy and not fun for that reason . also a pain in the ass to get there and back . fly instead of bus or train whenever you can it ' s worth the extra money in my opinion