Pai is a pretty small place with a very simple layout. Nothing is far away. Pai's main tourist drag is Chaisongkran Road, which winds from the river and footbridge up past the bus station to the crossroads with Rungsiyanon Rd before heading out west past the hospital to the town's edge. The section between the river and bus station is the liveliest being lined almost non stop with guesthouses, cafes, restaurants, trekking agents, internet shops, motorbike hire shops and bars.
The road side is bordered with Lisu vendors and there's even the obligatory 'Combie van cocktail bar'! Yes it's Pai's own Khao San Road and in the peak season can be just as crowded! Hoards of young Thais, seemingly permanently on their cell phones to their mates in Bangkok, wander up and down the street wrapped up in their winter woolies and groups of Western backpackers lucky enough to have found rooms sit around with their buckets of VodkaRedBull and laugh at the Thai dogs wearing Man Utd. T-shirts.
Rungsiyanon Road is the wide (well, for Pai) road that leads from the crossroads with Chaisongkran Road right through the centre of town, eventually mutating into the Pai - Chiang Mai highway once it leaves town to the south. The cafes, restaurants, banks, and 7-Eleven are mostly grouped at its northern end while small hotels and guesthouses dot both sides of the street. A small night market is open in the evenings.