Life of Pai

Pai is a little haven in the corner of Thailand where like minded people gather together to hang out and love life. Tourists, ex-pats, and Thais alike fill the vegan restaurants, local markets, tea shops, massage parlors, and yoga studios along “walking street”, sipping their kombucha and wheatgrass, and generally taking it as easy as humanly possible. Nobody is ever in a hurry here. In fact, of all the places I've been, the pace of life in Pai is the slowest...by a long shot.

 

There is a particular saying here which people use frequently and which visitors quickly adapt as their own: “sabai-sabai”. Literally translated it means “happy-happy” or “relax-relax”, but in application something along the lines of “it's all good” would be more accurate. These two little words are used in all different contexts and often by themselves to convey a general sense of easygoingness and leisure. And things in Pai are (most often—if not ubiquitously) “sabai-sabai”. It's entirely accepted and expected for people to run late, to roll out of bed at noon, or to hang in a coffee shop all day watching the world go by. Everyone is at best, blissfully happy, and at the very least, content. It would seem that the worst thing to happen to people in Pai is that the keg goes dry or the ice cream parlor runs out of their favorite flavor.

Pai is a place where progressives, vegetarians, travelers, foodies, musicians, and artists alike flock—a utopia of sorts where everyone is accepted, everyone gets along, and most find it difficult to leave. The small size of the town means running into people you've already met is inevitable and friends are made quickly.

Unlike most of the residents and visitors here, who have come to Pai deliberately to relax and take things easy, we ended up here by chance. The arrangements we had made to volunteer with Khom Loy—a Montessori organization based in Chiang Rai—were altered due to their school vacations and a reduction in the work load they had for us. Not having enough to keep us busy, they contacted the Banyan Center, Pai's one and only Montessori school, to see if they could use our help. Although it was an unexpected change, we're thrilled to have landed in this quirky little town.

During our time here, we'll be doing an array of different things—a mish-mash of projects, if you will—to fill our time and help out where needed. We'll be making materials, weeding the garden, helping to build a new play structure, and leading a “summer camp” program. I'll also be spending time working with the teachers, expanding their knowledge of the materials and their understanding of the Montessori method. The children will be mostly on summer break while we're here, but we managed to catch their last week of school and were able to spend some time with Beth, her Thai co-teacher Noy, and the children in classroom, observing and offering guidance and support. 

Painting

Loving her metal inset lesson!

Carefully pouring- Land and Water Forms

Whoops! Clean up time

Enjoying lunch outside

Learning the Thai alphabet

Binomial cube

Neither Beth nor Noy hold any official Montessori certification, but both have received the short training offered by the Khom Loy Foundation, and both are eager to learn more about the method and improve their classroom.

In our free time, we've been exploring the town and enjoying the local music scene. For whatever reason, Pai seems to draw in a disproportionately large number of extremely talented musicians, and Sean has been enjoying playing with new people at various events around town. Every Sunday, Edible Jazz finds its hammocks full and its floor cushions crammed with music enthusiasts tapping and swaying to the sounds of what I'm convinced is the best 'open mic night' in existence. 

Musicians of all ages and from all corners of the globe meet and jam together, sharing their unusual instruments and communicating in the one common language of their diverse backgrounds. Music of all sorts fills the space, and draws the ever-expanding crowd in from the street. New friends weave together sensational melodies, the kind that leave everyone stunned when they learn the group only just met on stage. 

Some share self-written songs of travel and adventure, while others sing those that everyone knows (no matter where they grew up). A nine-year-old beat-boxes while his sister sings lead and Mom backs her up. The whole crowd cheers. Everyone is welcomed on stage and every act seems even better than the last.

Every evening, people gather around buskers playing along 'walking street' and signs reading “Live Music” line the sidewalks. Though it would be impossible for us to catch them all, there's never any shortage of sweet sounds in this town. So far, we've just been enjoying the people, the laid-back vibe, and catching/playing all the music we can. Looks like life in Pai will suit us just fine for now.