https://motdang.net/loop/2026-09-19T00:00:00ZNaNhttps://motdang.net/loop/hazard/annoyances/2026-09-19T00:00:00Z

The small stuff, in one drawer, with what to do about it and what to say afterwards. None of these will end your trip. Most of them will end up being the bit you tell people about.

https://motdang.net/loop/leg/cnx-to-pai/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Route 107 north out of the city to the Route 1095 turn, then over the hills to Pai. The shortest leg of the circuit by distance and the one people most often underestimate by time.

https://motdang.net/loop/leg/hot-to-cnx/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

The commute home. Four to six lanes with a median, narrowing to two through the town centres.

https://motdang.net/loop/leg/khun-yuam-to-mae-sariang/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Ninety-odd kilometres of Route 108 that the Thai highway article describes as running parallel to the Yuam river.

https://motdang.net/loop/leg/mae-sariang-to-hot/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

The emptiest stretch of the circuit. Sealed, two lanes, steep hillsides, few villages, and a national park in the middle.

https://motdang.net/loop/leg/mhs-to-khun-yuam/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Route 108 south. The climb out of the Mae Hong Son valley, then the first of the long southern running.

https://motdang.net/loop/leg/pai-to-soppong/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Short. Out of the Pai basin, up, and into limestone country.

https://motdang.net/loop/leg/samoeng-warmup/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Chiang Mai to Mae Rim, Route 1096 to Samoeng, and back. A day. Not part of the loop.

https://motdang.net/loop/leg/soppong-to-mhs/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Fifty-two kilometres, a hundred and ninety curves, and a long drop into the Mae Hong Son valley at the end.

https://motdang.net/loop/leg/the-1263-cut/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Khun Yuam east to Mae Chaem. Optional. A three-day loop instead of a four-day one, bought with the steepest and most curve-dense road here.

https://motdang.net/loop/road/route-107/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Chiang Mai north towards Fang. The loop uses only its first stretch, as far as the Route 1095 turn near Mae Malai.

https://motdang.net/loop/road/route-108/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son the long way round: south through Hang Dong and Chom Thong to Hot, then west and north through Mae Sariang, Mae La Noi and Khun Yuam.

https://motdang.net/loop/road/route-1088/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

North out of Mae Chaem. Relevant to this circuit only as part of the 1263 shortcut's eastern exit.

https://motdang.net/loop/road/route-1095/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Nong Khong on Route 107, over the hills to Pai, through Pangmapha, and down into Mae Hong Son. Sealed two lanes end to end. The most curve-dense long road on the circuit.

https://motdang.net/loop/road/route-1096/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Mae Rim to Samoeng, ridden as a day loop out of Chiang Mai and back. Not part of the Mae Hong Son circuit, and the best possible preparation for it.

https://motdang.net/loop/road/route-1263/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Khun Yuam east to Mae Chaem. The shortcut that halves the loop, and the hardest riding in this network.

https://motdang.net/loop/town/chiang-mai/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

The start and the finish. Both roads out of it — 107 to the north, 108 to the south — are the loop's two ends.

https://motdang.net/loop/town/hot/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

The hinge of the southern leg: east of here Route 108 is four to six lanes to Chiang Mai, west of here it is two lanes for 265 kilometres.

https://motdang.net/loop/town/khun-yuam/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

On Route 108 between Mae Hong Son and Mae La Noi, and the western end of the 1263 cut to Mae Chaem. Two reasons to stop, and both of them are specific.

https://motdang.net/loop/town/mae-chaem/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

A Chiang Mai district in its own valley, reached from the loop only by Route 1263 or over the Inthanon massif.

https://motdang.net/loop/town/mae-hong-son/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

The far end of the loop and the only town on it with an airport, a hospital of size, and a chedi on a hill above the runway. Population small, altitude low, mountains on every side.

https://motdang.net/loop/town/mae-sariang/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

The largest town on the southern leg and the natural overnight between Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai. Teak-era shophouses, Burmese-style wats, and a river.

https://motdang.net/loop/town/pai/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Night one clockwise. A small district town in a flat river basin ringed by hills, with more guesthouses, coffee and motorcycle rental per head than anywhere else on the circuit.

https://motdang.net/loop/town/soppong/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

The main settlement of Pang Mapha district, in limestone karst country. Officially Pang Mapha; on the road signs and in every conversation, Soppong.

https://motdang.net/loop/stop/ban-rak-thai/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

A village north of Mae Hong Son settled by Chinese Yunnanese, on a reservoir, with tea terraces and the border immediately behind it.

https://motdang.net/loop/stop/doi-inthanon/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

2,565 metres, in Chom Thong district, reached from Route 108 or from Mae Chaem over Route 1088. Not on the loop; one turn off it.

https://motdang.net/loop/stop/huai-nam-dang/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

A national park straddling the Chiang Mai and Mae Hong Son line, right on Route 1095, with a viewpoint that looks east over cloud at dawn.

https://motdang.net/loop/stop/khun-yuam-memorial/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

A memorial hall in Khun Yuam holding material from the Japanese presence in this district during the Second World War.

https://motdang.net/loop/stop/mae-sam-laep/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

A river village west of Mae Sariang at the end of a side road, on the Salween where it forms the frontier.

https://motdang.net/loop/stop/mae-surin-waterfall/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

A single-drop waterfall in Namtok Mae Surin National Park, in Khun Yuam district.

https://motdang.net/loop/stop/op-luang/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

A gorge on the Chaem river in a national park on Route 108, roughly midway between Hot and Mae Sariang.

https://motdang.net/loop/stop/pa-bong-piang/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

In Mae Chaem district, off the eastern end of the 1263 cut. One of the reasons to take the shortcut at all.

https://motdang.net/loop/stop/pai-canyon/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Kong Lan: narrow eroded sandstone ridges on the edge of the Pai basin, walked at sunset by most of the town.

https://motdang.net/loop/stop/pai-walking-street/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

Pai's evening market runs down the main street every night in the season: food stalls, music, and most of the town's visitors in one place.

https://motdang.net/loop/stop/pang-ung/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

A royal-project reservoir in the hills north-west of Mae Hong Son, reached by the same road system as Ban Rak Thai.

https://motdang.net/loop/stop/su-tong-pae/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

A long bamboo bridge over rice fields and a stream outside Mae Hong Son town, on the route toward Khun Yuam.

https://motdang.net/loop/stop/tham-lot/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

A limestone cave in Pang Mapha district with the Nam Lang stream running through it. Entered by lamp and by bamboo raft, with a local guide.

https://motdang.net/loop/stop/tham-pla/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

A spring-fed pool at a cave mouth north of Mae Hong Son town, in its own national park, holding a resident population of large barb.

https://motdang.net/loop/wat/chong-kham-chong-klang/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

The pair of Shan-Burmese temples on Nong Chong Kham, the pond at the centre of Mae Hong Son town.

https://motdang.net/loop/wat/doi-kong-mu/2026-09-18T00:00:00Z

The temple on the hill west of Mae Hong Son town. Two Shan-style chedis, a road to the top, and the view that gives the province its nickname.