During this time period, we are welcoming people who want to come meditate to stay with us in a more relaxed setting. As opposed to a highly structured retreat with many participants and a packed schedule, it will be more akin to integrating as a member of the community and going along with our typical daily schedule. This type of setting comes with the benefit of having more free time and space to practice by yourself and reflect, and it also allows you to get to know our volunteers better as well as getting the opportunity to ask more questions and get closer guidance by our teaching monks. There also is no designated time limit or minimum amount of stay, so please choose the dates that you would like to attend. You are welcome to stay longer term if you are interested to do so.

Due to a drastic influx of both international and Thai visitors, we have decided to implement a stricter policy on arrival times and also only receive new guests 5 days out of the week. PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL US ASKING FOR EXCEPTIONS TO THESE RULES. In order to make sure our staff is able to sustainably handle the work load, these rules will not be adjustable. 

Please be aware, that in order to ensure your safety and the safety of our community here at Pa Pae amidst the rise in COVID-19 cases in Thailand, we do ask that you abide by all of the following guidelines and safety precautions : take temperature on arrival, notify us if you experience any symptoms, and wash hands with soap or alcohol often. 

Please arrive during our registration window, between 2pm-5pm on the day of your arrival. This will give you enough time to register, get settled in, take a tour, which will happen at 5pm, and have an introductory session around 6:30pm.  However if you wish to learn how to meditate and even practice a bit before arrival, you can do so by listening to our instructional audio and guided meditations. 

After your first registration evening, the typical daily schedule will be as follows: in the morning you can do morning chanting and meditation at 5:30am or you can follow the monks through the village on alms round at 6:30. You are welcome to try out both activities on separate days if you wish. You can also choose to do a late morning session after breakfast or an afternoon session, where the teaching monks can guide you in meditation and answer any questions you may have. You are also invited to join our daily evening chanting and meditation with the monks and volunteers at 6:30pm. Outside of these sessions you will have free time to practice by yourself.

You will be provided with 2 meals a day (breakfast and lunch) and some light refreshments in the evening time. This is the eating schedule followed by monks and individuals seeking to deepen their spiritual practice. This type of eating schedule helps support your meditation practice and ability to sleep better and wake up feeling more refreshed. If you have any dietary restrictions, please let us know in the "personal information" section that follows.

When you arrive, we will provide you with 2 pairs of white pants and 2 pairs of white shirts which we ask you to wear for the remainder of the retreat. White clothes help you to be more mindful, because they can get dirty easily. Also, it helps you to reduce the amount of attention you pay to how you or others around you are dressed since everyone will dress in the same, modest fashion. Please note, that since we are in the mountains, it is colder than in the city. Starting in October and through March the weather can be quite cold in the morning or the evening (sometimes getting down to around 10 degrees C in Dec - Mar), so please bring a sweater, a hat, or any other clothes that you would like to stay warm.

For footwear, sandals or flip flops would be the most convenient since you will be required to take off your shoes before entering each meditation hall. However, you may wear any other type of closed shoe if that is more comfortable to you. Please note however, that there will be plenty of walking up and down the hill side on stairs and dirt roads that can be slippery when wet. So please walk with caution.

We suggest that you bring your own bug repellent, so that you can protect yourself from mosquitos as you meditate out in nature. Also if you would like to be free from your phone, you may bring an alarm clock so that you can keep the time in that way. Finally, please also bring your own personal towel and toiletries as well.

In order to cover food, utilities, accommodations, and other service costs, there is a suggested donation of 500THB per person per day. However, what is most important to us, is that everyone has the opportunity to learn meditation and wisdom. So, if this cost is outside of your budget, please just come and contribute whatever you can. Also, if you are interested to donate a larger amount in order to pay gratitude to the teaching monk or help support the continued growth of the retreat, then we would be very grateful for your generosity.

As stated earlier, we are open to allowing you to stay with us longer term. As long as you show that you are able to live with others harmoniously and follow the community guidelines properly, then the following two options will be available to you.

The first option would be to stay while focusing primarily on your meditation. This option would include the daily suggested donation of 500THB per person as mentioned above.

The second option available to you would be to stay with us as a volunteer. There are many opportunities to contribute including but not limited to: cooking, gardening, cleaning, organising, landscaping, driving, developing land for various projects, construction, walking alms round with the monks, helping out with future retreat programs, etc. These are just some ideas, but we are certainly open to any other ways in which you can contribute to the community.

We would love for dedicated volunteers who have a passion for any of the previous activities to help us maintain and beautify our retreat while becoming a more integrated part of the community. If you are willing to volunteer each day for any of these activities, then we can offer you a discount on the suggested daily donation for staying at Pa Pae. We can talk about more details upon your arrival. If either of these options interest you, then please designate it in the "personal information" section below.

If you are in need of public transportation, you have a few options that are detailed in this link - https://www.papaemeditation.org/en/?page_id=33. If you decide to take the van (which is the most affordable and popular option) then please make sure to reserve your ticket ahead of time as they can often run out. Reserve your ticket from Chiang Mai Arcade to Pai (or vice versa if you are coming from Pai) through this link - https://premprachatransports.com/welcome/.  Pa Pae is about half way between Pai and Chiang Mai, so this is the right route to take.

However, you must clearly tell both the person at the ticket counter and your driver that you want to get off at Aw Baw Dtaw Pa Pae, otherwise, they will pass that stop, since it is not a typical stopping place. This has happened multiple times to previous participants, and it will require you to buy another ticket back the other way. If it is too late, you will have to find accommodation and wait for the following day.

In order to make sure that this doesn't happen, show your driver the sentence in the next section, which clearly says the stop you want to get off at.

Once you get off at the stop, please call P Than at 084-093-8383 and he can come pick you up at the stop and bring you to the retreat grounds. Otherwise, you can follow the signs and walk 1km to our site.

If you would like to get a better idea of the type of meditation that we practice here and how to do so effectively then you may take a look at our Soundcloud which will give you a good foundation of knowledge to understand how to practice properly as well as guided meditation to follow along with. Enjoy!

If you would like to better understand the environment of the retreat and the community guidelines that we have, then please go ahead and listen to the following: