There is a popular place nearby Chiang Mai called Pai.  It is known for it's amazing mountain views and small town feel just a little ways outside of Chiang Mai, which can be a bit big and busy for a lot of people.  It's not so easy to find the smaller communities in Thailand that still accommodate foreigners in that the people speak English, but Pai is one of them and at least until about 2 years ago, it was very popular, these days mostly everything in the town is closed because tourism is dead, especially among foreigners.   These days, the few foreign visitors that the country gets tend to stick to the popular areas like Phuket, Samui, and Pattaya because there are so many entry restrictions.  

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There is a real downside to getting to Pai though and that is that the road is a winding maze of tarmac that is **very dangerous**.   You don't have to do the drive on your own the way that I did in order to feel this terror, the minivan drivers seem to be trying to beat some sort of top time for the journey and it is a terrifying experience.  My first run over the mountain was in a minivan and while I was afraid I tried to look at it from the perspective of the fact that this guy does this drive multiple times a day and he isn't dead, so the likelihood of that happening to me is pretty small.  

Multiple times since then I have done the drive on my own on a scooter or even better on a proper bike and as long as you keep your wits about you and realize that the cars don't really try to accommodate you at all, you will be fine.  I did notice this sign that I had previously not paid any attention to in the past when going over the mountain pass this time around though.

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This is funny because normally government signs use more professional sounding words than this when they make something but here's the thing:  They aren't wrong.   This road is not for inexperienced drivers and it is also quite taxing on a car.  Someone in an automatic would experience great trouble and probably burn out their brakes if they didn't have the sense to step it down to a lower gear on the way down.  

The thing about this particular route is that as far as I know, there aren't any other ways of getting there.  I guess there must be a flatter path for bigger trucks somewhere but it must take a lot longer since everyone seems to use the mountain pass including lorries.  

There are a lot of accidents on this stretch of road and while you are driving you will commonly see bits of car or motorbike in the ditches as well as in the middle of the road.   So while their warning is humorous to the point where people might not take it seriously, they really should.   Thailand's roads are known around the world for being some of the most dangerous in the world and a lot of this has to do with inexperienced drivers and the fact that there is almost no sort of road enforcement of any sort... not that i've seen anyway.  So if you see a sign like this as you are touring around Thailand on a motorbike, you might want to ask your maps app if there is an alternate route, because even though it is silly, it isn't untrue!