To fully appreciate the charm of Sainyabuli's setting, drive 9km southwest to Nam Tien lake, access point for the Elephant Conservation Center. A restaurant here is perched above the dam, offering views across emerald rice paddies and wooded slopes towards a western horizon where the Pak Kimin and Pak Xang ridges overlap.
The 3km asphalt road to Nam Tien branches west off the Pak Lai road 500m before the southern bus station, just before a bridge (6.5km from central Sainyabuli).