Mae Hong Son

The Mae Hong Son loop — 600 kilometres of switchbacks (1,864 bends, locals will tell you) curling through the mountains northwest of Chiang Mai — is the country’s great motorbike road trip and a four-to-six day commitment by car. The midway hippie town of Pai is the obvious overnight, with its sunset canyon walk a 20-minute drive away. Further on, Pang Oung is sometimes called the “Switzerland of Thailand”: a small alpine reservoir ringed by pines that turns pink and misty at dawn. Plan around the season — the cool months (November-February) are best; the rains turn the road slick and the burning months (March-April) wreck the air quality.

Pai Canyon at sunset in Mae Hong Son, narrow earthen ridges winding above forested valleys with a lone hiker silhouetted on a knife-edge spur under a warm golden sky
Pai Canyon at sunset.
Pang Oung lake at dawn in Mae Hong Son, mist drifting between pine trees reflected in the still alpine reservoir with a traditional bamboo raft along the shore in soft pink light
Pang Oung lake at dawn.

← Back to Thailand · All Destinations