Once every month there is the infamous Full Moon Party on Haad Rin beach in Koh Phangan, Thailand. Make sure you don’t miss out when you happen to be in Thailand on the day of the party. No more accommodation available in Koh Phangan? No problem! Here is what to expect from the Full Moon Party.
Places to stay
Accommodation in Koh Phangan either gets fully booked or very expensive because of the famous Full Moon Party. To save ourselves some money, we got a cheap but cool hotel in Koh Samui instead. Our hotel was right next to Bangrak beach on the north-east of the island.
In less than a minute walk from our hotel, we got to Bangrak pier, where speedboat ferries conveniently offered Full Moon Party transfers to and from Haad Rin beach at Koh Phangan. We booked our ferry tickets the day before the Full Moon Party, just to make sure we wouldn’t have to miss it.
Also, the VIP ferry service really made a difference, as without it we would have spent ages waiting for our boat back. With our VIP passes, we got escorted to the beginning of the queue by the staff of the ferry operator. Although this almost got us into a fight with the people already in line…
Beach party on fire
I will always remember the Full Moon party like a beach party on fire. Thousands of people are partying on the beach with a bucket full of alcohol in their hands. The dress code is definitely “neon” as you can probably tell from the colourful shirts we bought. Just behind the beach, there are many stands offering neon body paint. We used some paint from the stand where we purchased our bucket of alcohol, and drew something on each others’ arms.
Have you even been to the Full Moon party if you haven’t seen the fire on the beach? From the welcome sign to the skipping rope and the limbo dance bar – everything is on fire! And no, this is not a safe combination with thousands of drunk people. While it was fun to watch, I didn’t dare to jump the flaming rope together with other people. As soon as someone misses a jump – the whole group can (and some will) get burnt.
I did pass underneath the flaming limbo dance bar, as this was just a “one person at a time” thing. Although I hadn’t limbo danced since I was a child – it felt pretty cool!
Party hard (but not too hard)
Most of the night, the atmosphere is absolutely brilliant, with a nice mix of smiley Thai people and tourists happily dancing the night away to the music on the beach. It is only at the end of the night when people have drunk too many buckets that the atmosphere can get a bit grim with people fighting.
As a word of warning – be aware of people trying to sell drugs at the Full Moon Party. You can get the death penalty in Thailand for buying or taking drugs, so I would say better safe than sorry!
All together the Full Moon Party is still the best party I have been to by far! The only downside of it is that any other party seems boring (and overpriced) compared to this one.