Amid the mountains of northern Thailand, Pai is a hub for backpackers to lie in hammocks, swim in waterfalls, walk along the Bamboo Bridge and bask in the sun.

However, an overpopulation of tourists creating tension for locals.

Once a quiet market village, Pai is now a hotspot for tourists. Famous for its cheap lifestyle and lively party scene, Pai is a backpacker's dream.

The walkable city layout, affordable food and weather are the factors that make Pai so special, twenty-nine-year-old Canadian traveller Alex Chambers said.

Walking around Pai, you can see foreigners driving around on rented scooters, waterfall hopping and chasing the sunset at Pai Canyon, said Mr Chambers.

Tipsy Tubing is another popular Pai activity, where hundreds of travellers pay 250 baht to float down the Pai River on inflatable tubes, stopping at bars along the way. With drinks in hand, hundreds of backpackers join in Tipsy Tubing every week.

The booming tourism has turned a once quiet town into the centre of northern Thailand's backpacking scene. Despite boosting the local economy by bringing money into the valley, Pai is also at risk of feeling culturally washed out.

With Pai town overpopulated with foreigners, locals mostly live outside the central area.

"There is some tension between the locals and foreigners because of clashing cultures," said Mr Chambers.

"The thing that annoys the locals is the behaviour that some foreigners are bringing from their cultures into the valley," he said, with some tourists acting disrespectfully at local shops and restaurants or after alcohol-fuelled activities.

Mr Chambers said the tension will likely subside when most tourists leave during the upcoming burning season.