Relaxing in Hot Springs around Pai
27/09/2018
Pai Hot Springs
One of the things we loved about Pai, was that there are so many things to do! Not only are there are a variety of activities, but there is also a variety of options for each activity. Multiple Pai hot springs, multiple waterfalls, multiple caves!
We had 2 weeks to explore and get to know Pai, and we tried to see and do as much as we could. We had a few rainy days during our stay, which is perfect weather for relaxing in the many Pai Hot Springs.
Each Pai Hot Spring has it’s own appeal, but if you only have a few days, this post will help you choose which ones to visit!
Sai Ngam Hot Springs
If you only have time to visit one hot spring in Pai, this would be the one I recommend. It is the most beautiful, natural spring.
It used to be know as ‘the secret’ Pai Hot Springs and used to be the least expensive, but as word got it, it became more and more popular. You’ll find this Pai Hot Spring on many tour itineraries being offered in town.
Due to the high increase of visitors, the government decided to raise the price in order to try and preserve the hot springs. Even with the price increase, it is still quite popular, and does get busy in the afternoons. If you like to have things all to yourself, go early in the morning, the park opens at 8am.
Sai Ngam Hot Springs is located inside Lum Nam Pai Wildlife Sanctuary. Once you turn off the highway, you’ll come to a check point where you have to pay an entrance fee to enter the sanctuary.
After the check point, you have about 2km to drive through the park to get to the hot springs. We didn’t see any turn offs or roads going anywhere else, and it seemed the road ended at the hot springs, so I don’t think there is anything else inside the sanctuary you can visit.
While it does suck for us travellers that prices have increased to visit these Pai Hot Springs, the benefit is that they are well maintained. There isn’t loads of garbage everywhere, and the water is crystal clear.
Speaking of water – these hot springs are more like warm springs. The water isn’t as hot as you might expect from a hot spring, more of a warm bath temperature. The benefit to this is that you can comfortably spend a lot more time enjoying the spring, even hot a hot day.
Costs and Facilities:
Opening hours: 8:00am-6:00pm
Entry into Lum Nam Wildlife Sanctuary: 200baht per person
20 baht per bike
Hot Springs Fee: 20 baht per person
Parking: Available and free
Bathrooms: Yes
Changing rooms – basic, bamboo huts
No lockers, just some bamboo tables next to the spring to leave your stuff
Food and drink stalls available
How to get there:
Sai Ngam Hot Springs are 15km outside of Pai town, or about a 20-30 minute drive.
Rent a bike:
You can rent bikes in Pai town for 100-200baht per day (24hours.)
If you haven’t driven a bike before, Pai is a popular spot to learn. It has much less traffic and quiet roads to practice on. Just be careful, as you do get a lot of newbie drivers here, and it’s common to see backpackers with bandages from a bike accident.
Always make sure you have travel insurance!
Once you turn off the main highway to get to the springs, you will see the check point to pay the entry into the park. After that, you have approximately 2km to get to the springs. The roads are winding and some are quite steep. We had a 125cc bike and it made it up the hills with two of us on it, but we heard of other people having more difficulties.
Travel tip: These Pai Hot Springs are along the same highway to get to The Lod Caves, so I would recommend visiting both in one trip!
Accidents happen, make sure you are covered for all your adventures!
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Take a tour:
There are many tour options available around Pai. Check at your hostel/hotel, or take a stroll down walking street, and you’ll have plenty of options to choose from. You can either arrange for the hot spring only, or most people will choose to a full day tour and see a bunch of things in one day, since there is so much to see and do around Pai.
**We did not take any tours in Pai, we opted to do everything on our own. I am not endorsing any particular tour company, this is just an example of an available tour.
Pai Hot Springs Resort
The Pai Hot Springs Resort is a hotel resort, but you can pay an entry fee to use the pools. There are 2 hot pools, and a big swimming pool included in your entry ticket.
This one is the closest to town, and typically will be the busiest. We got lucky when we visited, there were only 2-3 other people using the hot pool, and we had the swimming pool all to ourselves!
We visited in the afternoon, around 3:30pm in September, which is considered low season.
Costs and Facilities:
Hot spring open hours: 6:00am to 7:00pm
Swimming pool open hours: 8:00am to 7:00pm
Entrance fee: 100baht per person
Includes hot springs and swimming pool
Bathrooms and changing rooms available.
Spa available at additional cost.
How to get there:
Bike: If you’ve rented a bike, Pai Hot Springs Resort is only a 15 minute drive out of town center. There is free parking available.
Taxi: You can take a taxi to get the Hot Springs. Just remember to arrange the driver to pick you up again when you are ready to leave. If you forget, the staff are quite friendly and I am sure they would be happy to call a taxi for you.
Muang Paeng Hot Spring
When I read about these hot springs, I was quite excited to visit them! Similar to Sai Ngam Hot Springs, they were in a natural setting, and being the farthest from town, we were likely to have them all to ourselves.
Muang Paeng Hot Springs are 28km from Pai, and it takes about an hour to drive there. The drive is very beautiful, then again ALL the drives around Pai are quite beautiful!
While the springs were nice to look at, unfortunately it doesn’t look like the pool to sit in is maintained.
The water in the creeks is very hot, you can see the steam rising from it. The water in the pool has been cooled down so it is possible to sit in it, however it was completely filled with algae.
We made the mistake of visiting these Pai Hot Springs at 12:00pm on a hot and sunny day. With all of the heat and steam from the spring, we were sweating, so I wouldn’t have gone in the pool for that reason, but the algae definitely sealed the deal.
If you don’t mind the algae, these hot springs are quite nice, and you are likely to have them to yourselves. I would recommend coming on a rainy day, or early in the morning. There is no shade and it gets HOT.
Otherwise, there are some walkways around the springs and it is a nice, natural area. If you are limited on time in Pai, I wouldn’t say these are a must-do, but if you have time and don’t mind the drive, it’s a decent way to spend a few hours.
Costs & Facilities:
Opening hours: Anytime
Costs: free!
Bathrooms: Yes
There is a building that was built next to the hot springs that had some bathrooms and changerooms in it. It is the only building around the hot springs.
Food and drink: No
These Pai Hot Springs are kind of off on their own, so there isn’t really anyone out there maintaining it or selling anything.
How to get there:
For these Pai Hot Springs, you are going to need to rent a bike, or hire a driver for the day. There are no tours heading here. Unless you are hiring the driver for other activities, as well, I don’t think it would be worth it to hire one to go all the way out here.
If you do rent a bike, make sure you have a full tank of petrol before heading out! Don’t be like us… we thought we had enough to get back there and back, and on our way back ended up driving down the side of the highway at 5km an hour, praying Betsy (our scooter) would make it to the gas station. Thankfully we rolled into the station running on fumes, with some pretty good sunburns.
Have you visited any of these Pai Hot Springs? Or are there any that we missed? Let me know in the comments section!
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I didn’t make it to Pai on my last trip to Thailand as the journey there put me off, but next time! These hot springs look amazing!
Yea they are beautiful, definitely worth a visit! One of the great things about Pai is that there is so much to do there and the vibe will pull you back anyways!
I am already feeling warm reading about these “Hot Spring baths” 😉 When we were in Bali we kind of found it difficult to figure out where exactly should we go for clean hot spring baths – but if I go to Thailand, I am sure this post will be a good reference material.
Thanks Richa, Thailand has some very nice hot springs! A lot more than I would have expected to find, and they have been fun to explore. Hope you ended up finding some nice ones in Bali. Hope this post helps you in future adventures!
Ah this is wonderful! I loved my time in Pai, this hot spring was great! Thanks for all the info – will bookmark for when I go back!
Thanks Kelsey, I think Pai steals a little piece of everyone’s heart! We plan on going back eventually as well. Hope this post does help in the future! 🙂
Really helpful post about Pai – I haven’t made it there yet, but plan on going back to Thailand early next year and think your post has made me keen to check out the hot springs there! 🙂
Thanks Liv! Definitely need to make it up to Pai, it’s an easy little town to fall in love with. So much to do there as well, we ended up staying 2 weeks!
Wow, the hot springs look wonderful places to visit. Though these looks a bit different from the ones we saw in Sikkim. Its a really helpful post about exploring the hot springs around Pai.
Thanks Amrita, they are quite nice! We visited during rainy season as well, and hot springs are a perfect rainy day activity! Hope you get to visit one day!
I had no idea there are so many hot springs around Pai. I feel like Sai Ngam Hot Springs, would be my go to choice as I am not too fond of super hot water so would probably struggle in some of the others!
I know right! For such a small town, Pai has so much to offer. Sai Ngam were my favorite for sure! The most beautiful and natural, and the water temperature was really nice I think. At the Pai Hot Springs resort I could only sit in the water a few minutes before I got too hot.
Still haven’t made it to Thailand for a multitude of reasons, but if (when) I do, Pai is really what will make me go. It sounds like such a refreshing break from the city & beaches, and these hot springs are icing on the cake! Great post with heaps of helpful information 🙂
Yea, Pai has a way of making people fall in love with it! We spent about 2 weeks there and would go back again. You said it right, it’s a nice break from the cities and beaches, it has it’s own cool vibe. If you can, leave a little wiggle room in your plans in case you decide to stay longer in Pai 🙂
Such an awesome post with all the information needed to visit this hot spring. The underwater picture is a stunner – well done!
On my recent trip to Iceland I enjoyed hot springs l, so I’m sure I will enjoy this too
Nice post
Thanks! The water was so crystal clear, I was very impressed with how well the hot springs were taken care of. Definitely worth paying a little extra entrance fee for a place that is actually looked after.
The Hot Springs in Iceland (and waterfalls and everything else haha) are high on my to-do list!
I didn’t know about Pai and these hot springs. Thanks for sharing this interesting post.
Yes, Pai is a beautiful little town. Highly recommend a visit while you are in Thailand!
These look so magical! I love visiting hot springs, but I had no idea there were so many in Thailand! I will have to add these to my bucket list! Thanks for the great tips!
I was surprised how many hot springs there were in Thailand as well! Wouldn’t expect it with the hot climate, but they are great on a rainy day.