Climbing Like a Local in Thailand

We had options for outdoor activities in Thailand, but we were leaning towards somewhere with climbing. The two well known locations are Railay Beach in the peninsula, and Chang Mai in northern Thailand. Chang Mai has had some sort of land access dispute for the past year or so, and there seems to be no solutions coming anytime soon, so that was off the list as the dispute has led to the climbing spots to be closed. Railay beach is well known, but for a number of reasons, didn't end up as the winner for us. We chose a lesser known spot: a private climbing camp a 2.5 hour train ride north of Bangkok and then a further 30 minute ride in the back of a pick-up truck and the camp, called Nam Pha Pa Yai is reached. It is truly off the beaten path.

The camp is truly a camping experience, in the sense that you can bring your own tent, or sleep in one of theirs. They also offer bamboo houses to sleep in, as well as some treehouse options. There is a restaurant at the camp, running water etc. The food is some of the best I have had in Thailand. Breakfast and lunch are from a menu, with dinner being buffet style.

There are several crags, all offer a variety of high quality routes across a reasonable skill level. The part that excited Neve the most is that to access many of the crags, you need to take a zip line to get across a river.

There were a handful of other folks staying at the camp. A pair of Dutch pilots that do outdoor climbing whenever they can (they had a three night stopover in Bangkok), a German couple who seemed to only climb (we learned that they've set up climbing camps in other countries and are about to do the same again). As with most climbing communities, everyone was welcoming and encouraging.

We've climbed long routes and short routes. So far the favourite long route is called "zero energy", it's a 25m 6a, involves a long chimney, up what is essentially a bat cave. Not to worry about getting dirty hands, that particular part of the cave does not seem to be as full of batshit as other places.

We have also climbed some short routes through some rock with lots of tunnels in it. I'm pretty sure we don't have anything like it back home, I would imagine that the tunnel structures would get water trapped in them in winter, and the ice would shatter the rocks -- but I'm not a geologist, so take my opinion on that for what it's worth.

DavidRead more