Hot Spots

UNCOMMON GROUNDS Foreigners aren't the only nonlocals to come under Pai's spell since the late 1980s. The hippest spots in town belong to the artsy young Thai bohemians who have fled Bangkok, Chiang Mai and other crowded urban centers in search of a slower-paced and less profit-oriented lifestyle. Opened in 1999 by two disaffected Bangkok advertising execs, All About Coffee must be one of the coolest cafés in Thailand. None of the large Western coffeehouse chains can compete with its homespun, rustic-wood ambiance, mellow jazz sounds and delightfully personalized service. Not to mention a three-course breakfast for $1.50, a selection of 28 reasonably priced coffee drinks from the banana espresso shake to a classic cappuccino (made from local and imported beans), a large range of herbal teas and scrumptious desserts (including a sinfully rich banana, white chocolate and caramel Binoffi Pai). There is even a cozy upstairs loft filled with books. The simple teakwood shophouse looking out on to Chaisongkram Road dispenses cake and cool from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily.

MEAN MUSIC A block away, Be-Bop Bar is to live blues what All About Coffee is to hot beverages—heartfelt and happenin'. Its Thai owner heard B.B. King perform in London in the early '90s and has recreated an authentic blues bar atmosphere on Chaisongkram Road. Resident and visiting bluesmen bop against a backdrop of Indonesian batiks, Western blues festival posters and Chiang Mai lanterns. The one thing owner Chart has not brought to Pai, however, is the late hours: out of consideration for his neighbors, he voluntarily turns off the amplifiers at 10:30 p.m.

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN Affordable no-star accommodation out of town is available for those with their own transportation. A funky cartoon billboard near Thom's Elephant Camp (about six kilometers south of Pai in the middle of the valley near Tha Pai Hot Springs) announces the well-designed and landscaped bungalow complex called Spa Exotic Home. Run by a decidedly non-bohemian former Bangkok businesswoman with an eye for detail and a faith in word-of-mouth promotion, the seven individual bungalows have Balinese-style bathrooms with private hot mineral water tubs. Spa's peaceful and intimate rooms go for $17 a night.