Thailand (Lonely Planet, 13th Edition) - China Williams [359]
THAI (0 5361 2220; www.thaiair.com; 71 Th Singhanat Bamrung; 8.30am-5.30pm Mon-Fri) also fly to/from Chiang Mai (1365B, 35 minutes, twice daily), from where they have connections to Bangkok (3600B).
BUS
Mae Hong Son’s bus station has been moved 1km outside the city and Prempracha Tour (0 5368 4100) conduct bus services within the province, including south to Khun Yuam (ordinary/air-con 70/110B, two hours, 6am, 8am, 10.30am, 8pm and 9pm) with a stop in Mae Sariang (ordinary/air-con 100/180B, four hours) before culminating in Chiang Mai (ordinary/air-con 187/337B, eight hours).
Going north, buses stop in Soppong (ordinary/air-con 60/80B, two hours, 8am, 10.30am and 12.30pm) and Pai (ordinary/air-con 80/100B, three hours) before culminating in Chiang Mai (ordinary/air-con 143/210B, eight hours). Relatively frequent minivans also ply this route, stopping in Soppong (150B, 1½ hours, frequent departures from 7am to 2pm) and Pai (150B, two hours) before reaching Chiang Mai (250B, six hours).
Sombat Tour (0 5361 3211), located at the new bus station, run buses to Bangkok (1st-class 718B, 15 hours, 2pm and 3pm).
Getting Around
The centre of Mae Hong Son can easily be covered on foot, and it is one of the few towns in Thailand that doesn’t seem to have a motorcycle taxi at every corner. However, some can be found at the bus station and near the entrance to the morning market, and charge 20B to 30B for trips within town; to Doi Kong Mu it costs 100B return. There are also a few túk-túk in town; most are at the bus stop and charge 40B per trip and 80B to/from the airport or new bus station.
Because most of Mae Hong Son’s attractions are outside of town, renting a vehicle is a good option here.
PA Motorbike (0 5361 1647; 21 Th Pradit Jong Kham), opposite Friend House, rents motorbikes (150B to 200B per day), cars and jeeps (1000B to 2500B per day).
AROUND MAE HONG SON
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Pha Bong Hot Springs
Eleven kilometres south of the capital in the Shan village of Pha Bong is this public park with hot springs (private bath/bathing room 50/400B; 8am-sunset). You can take a private bath or rent a room, and there’s also massage (per hour 150B). The springs can be reached on any southbound bus.
THAM PLA FOREST PARK
This park (admission free; 6am-6pm), 16km north of Mae Hong Son, is centred around Tham Pla, or Fish Cave, a water-filled cavern where hundreds of soro brook carp thrive. The fish grow up to 1m long and are found only in the provinces of Mae Hong Son, Ranong, Chiang Mai, Rayong, Chanthaburi and Kanchanaburi. The fish eat vegetables and insects, although the locals believe them to be vegetarian and feed them only fruit and vegetables, which can be purchased at the park entrance.
A 450m path leads from the park entrance to a suspension bridge that crosses a stream and continues to the cave. A statue of a Hindu rishi called Nara, said to protect the holy fish from danger, stands nearby. It’s a bit anticlimactic, but the park grounds are a bucolic, shady place to hang out; food and picnic tables are available.
Buses to Pai pass by, but renting a motorcycle is the best way to get here.
Long-Necked Kayan Villages
These villages are Mae Hong Son’s most touted — and most controversial — tourist attraction. The ‘long-necked’ moniker stems from the habit of some Kayan (sometimes also referred to as Padaung, a Shan term) women of wearing heavy brass coils around their necks. The coils depress the collarbone and rib cage, which makes their necks look unnaturally stretched. A common myth claims if the coils are removed, the women’s necks will fall over and the women will suffocate. In fact the women attach and remove the coils at will and there is no evidence that this deformation impairs their health at all.
Nobody knows for sure how the coil custom got started. One theory is that it was meant to make the women unattractive to men from other tribes. Another story says it was so tigers wouldn’t carry the women off by their throats; most likely it is probably nothing more than a simple fashion accessory.