Chiang Rai or Pai?

Neither town has a beach, and neither is much better for swimming. Both sit in inland valleys a long way from the sea, so a beach stay needs its own leg of the trip down south.

The water you do get differs a little. Chiang Rai offers forest pools such as Khun Korn and reservoirs, while Pai adds the river itself, where floating downstream on an inner tube is a standard hot-season afternoon.

Chiang Rai is the better place to eat Northern Thai food properly. Khao soi, nam ngiao, sai ua sausage and chilli dips with sticky rice turn up at morning markets for locals as well as at the night bazaar, and the hill coffee and Doi Mae Salong oolong give its many garden cafés real local roots.

Pai's food is pleasant but tilted towards the long-staying traveller: smoothie bowls, vegan plates, pizza and espresso around a walking-street market of skewers and khao soi. The Yunnanese noodles in Santichon are its most distinctive touch, but for depth, Chiang Rai is ahead.

The gap here is wide. Chiang Rai has a contemporary temple art scene found nowhere else in Thailand: the white plaster and mirrored glass of Wat Rong Khun, the sapphire Blue Temple and Baan Dam's dark teak halls, with Wat Phra Kaew and its Emerald Buddha story adding older history.

Pai offers half a day at most: the big white Buddha at Wat Phra That Mae Yen for the sunset view, a few Shan-style temples, the old wartime iron bridge and the mud-brick houses of Santichon. People visit for the valley, not the sights.

Pai has the more social evenings, though neither is a party town. Its bars around the walking street fill with backpackers after the night market, in bamboo gardens strung with fairy lights, and there is the odd party out of town, all with a young, gap-year crowd.

Chiang Rai is quieter and older in feel: a short strip of reggae and acoustic bars near the clock tower and beer tables at the night bazaar, with most of the town asleep by midnight. A dinner and a couple of drinks suit it better than a night out.

Both are excellent for the outdoors, and they are broadly level; what differs is the scale. Chiang Rai spreads its landscapes over a wide region: tea terraces at Doi Mae Salong, the Doi Tung gardens, the cloud-sea sunrise at Phu Chi Fa and the Mekong at the Golden Triangle, all needing longer drives.

Pai packs its scenery into one valley you can explore by scooter in short hops: the eroded ridges of Pai Canyon, Pam Bok and Mo Paeng waterfalls, misty viewpoints such as Yun Lai, plus rafting and the river cave at Tham Lod further out. Both lose their views to smoke haze in the burning season.

Chiang Rai is the far better base for getting out. Chiang Saen's ruined chedis on the Mekong, the Golden Triangle viewpoint and opium museum, the border market at Mae Sai and the Yunnanese tea town of Doi Mae Salong make two or three easy days of outings.

Pai is too remote for that. Apart from the hill villages around Soppong, the nearest towns are three winding hours away, so Mae Hong Son and Chiang Mai are places to move on to rather than return from in an evening.

Chiang Rai is the easier choice with children, though neither is designed with families in mind. Singha Park, with its lakes, tea fields and grazing animals, is a proper family day out, and the bright temples and elephant sanctuaries hold younger attention.

Pai has waterfalls, farms, gentle tubing and a night market that children enjoy, but the bend-filled road up is notorious for making passengers sick, and the town's evenings belong to backpackers. It suits older, outdoorsy children better than young ones.

Chiang Rai is the easier of the two to get around, though in both places you will need wheels for the sights. It has ride-hailing apps, tuk-tuks, songthaews, a local bus to the White Temple and regional buses from the old terminal, so you can manage without driving yourself.

In Pai there is no public transport beyond the few walkable streets of the centre. The valley is reached almost entirely by rented scooter, which is risky for beginners on the hill roads, or by hired songthaews and tours.

Both are market towns, but Chiang Rai gives you more to browse. Its nightly bazaar and the longer Saturday walking street on Thanalai Road carry hill-tribe silver, textiles and carved wood, and the Doi Mae Salong oolong and local coffee are good to take home.

Pai's evening walking street is fun but repetitive, with cotton trousers, woven bags, jewellery and small art prints from stall to stall. For anything beyond that, wait for Chiang Mai.

Both are among the cheapest places you can travel in Thailand, and on a budget there is little to choose between them. Where your money goes differs, though. In Chiang Rai the main expense is reaching sights spread across the region by driver, car or tour.

In Pai, cheap scooter rental keeps getting around inexpensive, but prices in its tourist centre run above ordinary northern towns and climb at the new year.

Neither has a stage worth planning around, but Pai has more music. Several of its bars host acoustic, blues, reggae or jazz jams most nights, and the informal open-stage feel is part of an evening there.

Chiang Rai leans towards tradition rather than bar music: Lanna dance at the night bazaar and khantoke dinners with dancing, plus music and processions at temple festivals and Loy Krathong.

Pai is built around unwinding in a way Chiang Rai is not. The Tha Pai hot springs in a forest park, yoga, meditation and detox retreats lasting from a day to weeks, and days of hammocks and rice-field views make rest the main activity.

Chiang Rai is calm enough, with massage on every street, a few riverside and hill resort spas and simple soaking pools at Pong Phrabat and Mae Kachan, but here relaxation fits around sightseeing rather than replacing it. Both lose their calm in the smoky spring.