Pai Cooking Class: Which to Pick, Prices & Booking

Featured image: deror_avi, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Quick answer: which Pai cooking class to pick

For a vegan class, look at Isara Garden first. It runs private four-hour vegan sessions for ฿1,300 per person, about 6 km outside Pai town. BeBe Spice also welcomes vegans and non-vegans in a small group with a market visit. On a tight budget, Red Orchid is listed at about ฿600 per person. Savoei costs ฿700–750 and fixes the schedule: four dishes, a cookbook and a market visit. For a river view, Reverie Siam charges ฿1,000 per person for groups of two to four.

• Budget: Red Orchid, about ฿600 per person
• Vegan: Isara Garden (private) or BeBe Spice (small group)
• Couples and families: BeBe Spice, which lists adults, couples and families
• Fixed schedule and cookbook: Savoei
• Scenic setting: Reverie Siam, riverside pavilion

Pai cooking classes compared

Prices and hours below are listed rates, checked November 2026. Booking details change, so message the operator before you pay. Savoei and Reverie Siam publish set time windows. Pai Cookery Class and Red Orchid leave timing to the owner.

What a typical class includes

Most Pai classes start in the market. Savoei, Red Orchid and Reverie Siam list a market visit, and BeBe Spice builds its whole class around one. You choose produce, then cook in a kitchen. Dish counts differ: Savoei cooks four dishes, Pai Cookery Class at least four, Red Orchid five. You eat what you cook at the end. Savoei adds a cookbook to take home. Reverie Siam teaches Northern-style cooking from a pavilion above the river.

How to choose: budget, diet, time and setting

Start with diet. Isara is vegan by design, and BeBe Spice welcomes vegans. Ask any other school before you book. Next, set a budget. Red Orchid at about ฿600 is lowest, Savoei sits at ฿700–750, Isara is ฿1,300 and Reverie Siam's private class reaches ฿1,500. Then weigh time. Savoei and Isara both run about four hours. Finally, pick the setting: an owner's home at Pai Cookery Class, an outdoor kitchen at Red Orchid, a resort pavilion at Reverie Siam or a garden at Isara.

• Morning class (Savoei, 9:30 AM–1:30 PM): frees the afternoon and the evening
• Evening class (Savoei, 4 PM–8 PM): ends with dinner, leaves the day open
• Private four-hour class (Isara): needs travel time on top, about 6 km each way
• Reverie Siam windows: 8:30 AM–12:30 PM or 2 PM–6:30 PM

Class-by-class notes

Isara Garden gets the fullest notes because it differs most. It sits about 6 km outside Pai town, so budget transport time on top of the four-hour class. Ingredients come from the garden, and the class is private and vegan at ฿1,300 per person. Isara opens daily from 10 AM to 6 PM. Transport from town is not listed, so ask about pickup when you message. Notes on the other five follow.

• BeBe Spice: small group, market visit, step-by-step guidance from Thom. Suits adults, couples and families.
• Savoei – A Taste of Pai: four dishes, a cookbook and a market visit at ฿700–750 per person.
• Pai Cookery Class: cook at least four dishes from a long list in the owner's home.
• Red Orchid: five dishes and a market guide for about ฿600 per person. Online information is thin, so call first.
• Reverie Siam: market tour, then Northern-style cooking by the river. ฿1,500 private or ฿1,000 per person for 2–4.

Booking and logistics

Savoei lists a Facebook page rather than a booking engine, so message it with your date. Pai Cookery Class asks for contact a day or two ahead to settle time, dish count and price. Walk-in hours there run 11 AM to 8 PM daily. Red Orchid has a phone number and little else online, so call. Reverie Siam publishes a workshop page with rates of ฿1,500 per person private and ฿1,000 per person for 2–4 guests. Ask each school for start time, number of dishes and final price in writing.

Fitting a class into a Pai day

Savoei's morning class runs 9:30 AM to 1:30 PM, which frees your afternoon. Its evening class runs 4 PM to 8 PM, so dinner is your own cooking. Afterwards, wander the evening walking street for a dessert stop. Compare your own dishes with night market snacks if you want a benchmark. Cheaper plates are covered in our guide to street-food stalls. After a class, try Northern-style khao soi to taste the regional cooking you just practiced. A coffee stop before class works for early starts. Our wider Pai food guide covers the rest. On a night with no class, see restaurants worth booking.

Mistakes to avoid

Most problems come from assuming. A short message settles nearly all of them.

• Turning up same-day at Pai Cookery Class, where the owner asks for a day or two of notice.
• Skipping the Isara transfer plan. It is about 6 km out, and the class alone takes four hours.
• Assuming a class is vegan. Only Isara and BeBe Spice are listed as vegan-friendly.
• Expecting a price at BeBe Spice or Pai Cookery Class. Neither lists one, so ask first.
• Booking Red Orchid without a call. Its online footprint is a phone number and a few reviews.