Notes on Thailand: Pai and the Hippie Trail
There is a modern hippie-healer-seeker-stoner trail that connects Koh Phangan and Pai in Thailand, Bali in Indonesia, Goa and Dharamshala in India, and Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.
The culture is similar to The Center in SF, but with more Israeli's and South Americans. There's meditation, breathwork, psychedelics, fire spinning, kirtan, sexual healing, polyamory, ecstatic dance all to varying degrees of grift and sacredness. You'll find bros trying to trip balls in a rice field, but also serious devotees of the sacred, trying to revive a sense of spirit in day to day life.
Pai was the first time I saw so many hippie families. There are communities of foreign families raising homeschooled barefoot kids together. They get together for picnics by the yoga studio and spin poi and play frisbee. Their kids, to me, seemed generally happy, healthy, and confident. But of course my encounters were not very deep.
In America, the kind of hippie community you'd see in the 60s is now way harder to pull off because of real estate prices and general cost of living. To buy or even rent a home in many places, you need either need serious manifestation abilities or you'll take some kind of normal job to support a family, and most (but not all) normal jobs that pay well produce a slightly different temperament and attitude towards life.
But now those that want to protect their free-flowing rhythm of life from the demands of the American economy can move to a developing country like Thailand. I'm not sure how local Thais feel about this, but I think a reasonable assumption is that it depends on the attitude, behavior, and contribution of those moving in. You could float through Pai off savings and treat it like a multi-year festival, or you could teach local regenerative farmers to sell high quality spice mixes for export.
I only talked to drivers and store owners. Since their livelihood depends on relatively wealthier foreigners buying relatively luxury goods and services, they're obviously biased towards wanting more people to move in.
The main issue with settling in Pai is the two month burning season. It's actually a huge and alarming issue eroding the health of millions of Thais. Somehow, they seemed to have collectively adapted to this, but most foreigners can't stand it. I wouldn't raise kids in that smoke.
I'd say the virtues of Pai are openness, calmness, acceptance, a sincerity in alternative living. The vices are listlessness, hedonism, and pseudo-spiritualism.
Notes for Consoomers
Chatchai Coffee had the second best coffee I tried. I was instructed to not name the best place.
Khao Soi Jitlut: street food spot with a vegan masamman curry I could eat every day
Places to work: Monko in Pai (quiet, no music, beautiful view), Madam Ju Coffee (cozy, indoors, food), Lost in Pai Juice Shack (outdoors, quiet)
Notes for the God-Curious
I highly recommend Shekina if you're interested in Christianity. They're an eclectic group of Christians who have spent time in ashrams and exploring other spiritual traditions. They bring this experience into their worship and have some nice contemplative practices, like St. Ignatius style Bible meditations. They were super warm and welcoming and run a wonderful community lunch on Sundays where you can learn more.
This really is a breath of fresh, burning season air for me.
You challenge me to write well. I'm so glad to be commenting on this substack rather than some vapid social media wall. Who knows, maybe I'll be stacking subs soon. (What helps me with writing is finding a balance between not procrastinating and not going too hard. Taking a break and letting ideas come to me. English composition 101 textbook principles also help. And slow thinking.)
And I'm glad I'm connected with you Karthik. Because just as we can go astray on the hippie path, we can drive our Teslas too straightly on the highway of efficiency. Bangkok, and cities like it are obviously a different energy than Northwest Thailand... Do you prefer jackhammers or hippie drums? The affect is real.
So as I find myself sucked into, as you mentioned here, economic concerns, I am given a warm reminder of another way of life that beckons like tongues of flame at the edge of the smokey circle of my present consciousness. You know you can't put the fire out.
I admire the way you travel. I reckon I am not particularly well thought out in my traveling. Like, I was unaware of the current hippie hotspots. Some hippy I am. Maybe I needed a nudge to a-goa to Goa. So yeah, it is balancing for me to hear from someone who puts some thought into his travels. Thought enough that it overflows onto here. And this means I can travel vicariously through someone who knows what they're doing.
Ahhhhhhh. It is good to see such seeking—such a committed devotee of Truth. Rekindle the fires my friend.
And Shekina, that is something I'm very interested in. I will add that to my collection of places to get a free meal. Adventists on Saturday... Shekina on Sunday (I expect unlimited hummus). Cool, now for the other five days...