In this special episode, I share the real story behind Pai Love Story—how it began after heartbreak, how it unexpectedly evolved into something much deeper, and why I’ve decided to bring Season 2 to an early close.

Thank you to every guest and listener who has been part of this beautiful journey. This isn’t necessarily goodbye—just a pause. If you’d like to stay connected and follow the next chapter, join us on Instagram @pailovestory.

With love,Lilja

In this episode, I reconnect with my friend Mandy, an Australian traveler and Muay Thai fighter whose relationship with Pai spans four different chapters of her life.

We talk about friendship, fleeting romances, heartbreak, courage, rejection, and why connections in Pai often feel deeper than anywhere else. From sauna encounters and birthday surprises to learning to ask for what we want in love, this conversation is a heartfelt reflection on the people who change us along the way.

A story about Pai, but also a story about growing up through relationships.

How do you find Mandy:

Facebook: Mandy Fiori

Gmail: [email protected]

Would you like to be interviewed and share your Pai love story?

You can write me an Email at [email protected]

Or follow Instagram @pailovestory, we will have our podcast update coming soon!

Where to find Dee?

Paradise Bar

Hello hello, this is Pai Love Story, episode five.

Still recording on my phone while my computer is in Chiang Mai — but that’s Pai, imperfect and real.

Today I’m joined by Dee, who came here as a traveler and became part of the community. From DJing and fire shows to running an animal foundation, his journey is all about rediscovering himself and giving back.

We talk about the magic of Pai, the people, the freedom, and the unexpected connections that change you.

If you’ve ever felt lost or searching, this story might resonate with you.

Welcome to Pai Love Story.

🌿 Stay Connected with Pai Love Story

If you’d like to follow the journey, hear more love stories, street interviews, and live podcast recordings from Pai:

Join the journey:

https://instagram.com/pailovestory

After sharing my own love story in the Season 1 finale, I received a voice message from a listener and friend that completely made my day.

Ethan, an American friend from my Thai class, listened to my episode and described it as a “happy-sad” story. Wanting to cheer me up, he sent me a recording about how he first met his Thai girlfriend, Darin.

Their story begins with a missed BTS stop, a strong first hug, cultural differences, travel adventures, food poisoning, and the uncertainty that often comes with new love.

In this episode, I share Ethan and Darin’s recording and reflect on what love stories teach us—not only about relationships, but also about ourselves.

Sometimes people enter our lives for a season.
Sometimes they stay.
And sometimes they leave us with a clearer understanding of the kind of love we hope to build in the future.

Thank you for listening to Pai Love Story. More interviews and love stories are coming soon.

With love from Pai,

Lily

** If you'd like to share your Pai love story with us, please contact me.

Email:[email protected]

Join the journey:

https://instagram.com/pailovestory

Here’s a version that’s emotional, clear, and binge-worthy:

In this episode of Pai Love Story, I’m sharing something a little different…

My own story.

What started as a spontaneous Tinder match in Pai turned into a one-week love story I never saw coming.

Fabi—a German traveler riding his motorbike across continents—showed up on my balcony one sunset… and somehow, everything just flowed. It felt easy. Familiar. Real.

But like many stories in Pai, it wasn’t meant to last.

Or… maybe it was, just not in the way I expected.

After our first emotional goodbye, something unexpected happened that brought us back together again. And again.

From Pai to Chiang Mai, to an island escape in Koh Chang—we found ourselves choosing each other, even when we knew the ending.

This is a story about timing, connection, and learning to receive love without needing it to stay forever.

If you’ve ever met someone who changed you in a short amount of time… this episode is for you.

🎧 Pai Love Story — Season One Finale

We’ll be back in June with more real stories, real connections, and a little bit of magic from Pai.

Join the journey:

https://instagram.com/pailovestory

In this episode of Pai Love Story, Lily sits down with Craig, an Australian traveler originally from Northern Ireland, who came to Pai for a birthday retreat and unexpectedly found something much deeper — a profound journey into connection, vulnerability, and the heart.

Craig shares how years of self-exploration, breathwork, and inner healing led him to a Tantra and authentic relating retreat in Pai. What started as a birthday gift to himself became a transformative experience filled with deep conversations, shared vulnerability, and unexpected love connections.

Together, Lily and Craig explore:

• What Tantra really means beyond the common misconceptions
• How vulnerability creates deep and authentic human connection
• Why Pai attracts spiritual seekers, lovers, and free spirits from around the world
• The healing power of retreats and community
• How solitude and self-work can open the door to deeper love

Craig also shares a touching moment from the retreat when fellow participants celebrated his birthday in six different languages around a fire — a moment that helped heal a long-held emotional wound and reminded him how loved and supported he truly is.

This episode is about more than romance.
It’s about discovering the many forms of love — friendship, community, intimacy, and the love we learn to give ourselves.

Sometimes the deepest love story begins when we finally meet our own heart.

🌿 Stay Connected with Pai Love Story

If you’d like to follow the journey, hear more love stories, street interviews, and live podcast recordings from Pai:

Join the journey:

https://instagram.com/pailovestory

Connect with Craig

https://www.instagram.com/craigles22

In this episode of Pai Love Story, I sit down with the magnetic, fearless, and radiant Loulou Celest — a Danish rapper, performance artist, and trans woman currently on her world tour.

I first saw Loulou Celest at the Saturday Market in Pai — tall, unapologetically feminine, dressed in pink, Hello Kitty energy, fully owning her presence. I was intimidated. I was curious. I knew I had to talk to her.

What unfolded in this conversation is one of the most powerful stories shared on this podcast so far.

Loulou Celest opens up about:

✨ Growing up in Denmark in rough environments filled with homophobia and rigid gender roles

✨ Living life performing “manhood” as a survival strategy

✨ A life-altering concussion that forced her into darkness for nearly a year

✨ The promise she made to herself: “If I get my life back, I will live for me.”

✨ Discovering her transgender identity later in life

✨ The internalized resistance, fear, and self-hatred she had to unlearn

✨ Starting hormones and navigating physical transition

✨ Community fundraising for gender-affirming surgery

✨ The power of exploring identity — even if you return to where you started

This episode is about more than gender.

It’s about courage.

It’s about reclaiming your life.

It’s about choosing authenticity over survival.

Loulou Celest reminds us that identity is something we can explore — gently, bravely, curiously — and that sometimes the most radical act of love is simply living for yourself.

This conversation touched me deeply.

I hope it touches you too.

Because in Pai, love is not just romantic.

It’s the love of becoming who you truly are.

🌿Connect with Loulou Celest

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/detlouloucelest/

If you’d like to stay connected with Pai Love Story:

Join the journey:

https://instagram.com/pailovestory

Welcome back to Pai.

Where identity is fluid, courage is contagious, and love is never ordinary.

Welcome back to Pai Love Story 💛

In Episode 2, I sit down with one of my favorite couples in Pai — Valentina, a circus clown with wild heart energy, and Burfin, a calm, grounded kindergarten teacher who found love when he wasn’t even looking for it.

They met on Valentina’s very first day back in Pai.

She flirted with his friend.

He didn’t chase.

There was weed, jokes, Walking Street, and one almost-kiss that changed everything.

In this episode, we talk about:

✨ Falling in love when you’re not “looking”

✨ Being together without defining the future

✨ “Long-distance casual boyfriend” energy

✨ Healing trust wounds through conscious partnership

✨ Patience as emotional leadership

✨ Letting drama dissolve instead of feeding it

✨ Living together after just days

✨ Role play, laughter, and keeping intimacy playful

✨ Loving fully — without clinging to forever

Valentina shares her perspective on infinite love — that relationships don’t have beginnings or endings, only presence.

Burfin opens up about staying calm during conflict and how patience transforms connection.

This episode is honest, funny, sexy, philosophical, and deeply tender.

It’s about two people choosing each other now — without fear of what comes next.

Because in Pai, love doesn’t need a contract.

It just needs courage.

🌿Connect with Valentina

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valentina.wsm/

Check out Burfin’s sister’s music here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mahoneymusique/

Join the journey:

https://instagram.com/pailovestory

Welcome back to Pai.

Where love is playful, conscious, chaotic — and beautifully alive.

Welcome to the very first episode of Pai Love Story 💛

In this debut episode, I sit down with someone very special — Jack, a transformational coach from the UK, founder of The Shadow Gentleman, and a man whose journey through darkness, freedom, and love brought him all the way to Pai.

Jack shares openly about:

• Growing up as a rebel in England and rejecting the “normal” life path

• His past struggles with depression, addiction, shame, and suicidal thoughts

• The inner work that transformed him from chaos to conscious masculinity

• Supporting men to break destructive patterns and become better partners

• The complexity of love, freedom, and open connections in Pai

• Navigating ego, jealousy, insecurity, and emotional triggers

• And the beautiful story of how he fell in love — first as friends in Pai, then deeply over daily phone calls across countries

We also talk about:

✨ The spiritual and chaotic magic of Pai

✨ Why patterns repeat in relationships

✨ How to communicate in free-spirited communities

✨ What it really takes to build a conscious partnership

✨ And yes… the tension of waiting a whole week before finally kissing someone you already love

Jack also shares briefly about his life-changing experience of going to prison in Malaysia — a story of collapse, rebuilding, and radical self-reflection that reshaped everything.

This episode is raw, honest, playful, and vulnerable — exactly what Pai Love Story is about.

Because love in Pai is never ordinary.

Jack and Nadine's favorite hangout in Pai: Hula Hula

Jack's recommended book: The Secret

🌿Connect with Jack

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theshadow_gentleman/

Podcast: Bridging the Universes

Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/show/6bCrkXWhu4Ayr9LbKzVkSm?si=43c84f762043479f

His prison story episode:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4c4xxELiRwFapyptFU5lbF?si=ccaa18d979074477

Join the journey:

https://instagram.com/pailovestory

Welcome to Pai.

Welcome to love, shadow, freedom, and everything in between.

For the past 20 years, love has been my greatest teacher — and my deepest heartbreak.

I thought I was marrying my prince charming.

Instead, I experienced double betrayal, divorce, and a complete unraveling of the life I thought I was building.

After losing both of my parents, I faced a kind of loneliness that forced me to meet myself fully. The grief was heavy. The suffering was real. But what I discovered on the other side was something unexpected:

Growth is sweeter than pain.

In this opening episode of Pai Love Story, I share why I started this podcast — and why now feels like the perfect moment.

Since deciding to begin this project just a week ago, life has exploded with inspiration: book ideas, street interviews, performances, women circles, and love stories unfolding in the magical mountains of Pai, Thailand.

This podcast is about love in all its forms — passion, betrayal, healing, desire, intimacy, and rebirth.

Today, March 3rd, I’m releasing the first three episodes. From here on, you can expect one new love story interview every week.

Welcome to Pai Love Story —

where a kiss can become a galaxy,

and heartbreak can become home.