Highway 1339 runs northwest out of Nam Pat or Nam Pad on some maps (‘d’ and ‘t’ are used interchangeable in translations from Thai into English) and into Lam Nam Nan National Park. This video starts just leaving Nam Pat.
There is no real park entrance I found so do not worry about an entrance fee. The only real reason to use this road is to go and take the ferry across Sirikit reservoir and enjoy the journey as it is certainly quicker going north to Nan or south from it via routes east or west. For example east of here is the wonderful highway 1268 which you can view here and stop by the Phu Soi Dao Waterfall for a relaxing break. After that take highway 1241/1083 which are all great into Nan. If you just want to get somewhere and time is pressing go the route west of here on the major north/south highways. Otherwise have an more leisurely and interesting experience and take highway 1339!
Elevation change on this section is from 150m to 500m so nothing too drastic. The road is in good condition with occasional pot holed sections. You go through several small little villages (Tambon in Thai). Be careful riding through these villages for chickens and kids darting across. I killed a chicken on the way back on this route despite slowing down and felt very guilty about it. Aey later said not to worry as a chicken is worth around 80Baht and the village would just cook up a chicken meal that night. Still maybe next time I would stop and give them small offering if I could find anyone to do so who could understand me.
This video is the first of three for highway 1339 with part two taking you to the ferry crossing and part three north of Sirikit resvoir heading to Nan.
Map of the route:
Ride carefully and always within your ability. The video shows speed (it is not completely accurate and has some inconsistencies), elevation graph, longitude and latitude, time and date, distance along the route and a squiggly line representing the road with a dot showing the current location. This video was shot in December 2014 and roads in Thailand do change over the years, a once pristine section of tarmac can degrade and likewise a bad section can be resurfaced and become as smooth as silk!
Leave a comment if you have an up to date report.
You can find excellent bike reports and information of northland Thailand over at Golden Triangle Riders
