Northern Thailand - Thailand - page 801

PA Motor OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP ( 0 5361 1647; 21 Th Pradit Jong Kham; 8am-6.30pm)
Next to Friend House, rents motorbikes (150B to 250B per day) and trucks (2500B to
3000B per day).

8am-6.30pm) Rents motor- PJ OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP ( 08 4372 6967; Th Ni-wet Pi-sarn;

bikes (150B to 200B per day).

9am-9pm) Rents good-quality moun-

Titan OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP (Th Khunlumprapas;

tain bikes (100B per day).

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Around Mae Hong Son

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 National Park

The most touted attraction of this national park (adult/child 100/50; 6am-6pm) is Tham Pla (Fish
Cave), a water-filled cavern where hundreds of soro brook carp thrive. 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 (sage) called Nara, said to protect the holy fish from
danger, stands nearby. 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. They 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. It's all a bit anticli-
mactic, but the park grounds are a bucolic, shady place to hang out. Food and picnic tables
are available.
The park is 16km north of Mae Hong Son; to get there, hop on any northbound bus.

Mae Aw (Ban Rak Thai)