The Full Moon Party

The Full Moon Party was the reason I came back to Thailand again. Well I say the reason, I came back for loads of reasons mainly because I love this place but this was, I guess, the main excuse for coming back. It was unreal and 100% worth cutting our time down in Vietnam and Cambodia for. It was 3 nights worth of build up climaxing on this one night.

Before the actual Full Moon Party there were 3 or 4 days of warm up parties. The warm up's to the full moon party was basically the same as the full moon, 1000's of people on one beach doing exactly the same things that they would be doing on the night of the full moon. The only real difference between the warm up parties and the actual night was how hard everyone hit it. People seemed more up for it on the night with the 2 main difference being firstly, the amount of people on the beach. There were so many more people you could hardly move around as people had also come from all the neighboring islands as well as slightly further afield parts of Koh Phan Ngan just for the actual full moon. Secondly the fact that everyone covered themselves in UV paint, it made everyone look amazing and really added to the night.

The general set up of the party is surprisingly well organized considering I don't think there is really anyone who actually controls and organizes the event other than the locals. Although as they do it every month they do get plenty of practice. Although saying that it did have the usual feel of organised chaos which many of my experiences in Thailand so far have invovled.

When you arrive on the night all roads and paths that lead to Had Rinn beach are blocked by locals on ticket stands. Anyone who is not Thai has to pay 100 baht (2 quid) entry and gets given a little wrist band, almost like at a festival. On the beach itself there are about 8 or 9 different clubs and bars that back onto the beach with massive sound systems pumping out all types of music like dance, trance, hip hop and drum and bass. I spent most my time at the "Drop in" which plays more of a mainstream mix of tunes with the odd trance remix of an indie song which was always nice. I also made sure I made my way to the Drum & Bass bar whenever I could as that was pretty sweet. There were also loads of little stalls dotted all on the beach as well as off selling buckets of alcohol to help you get "on it" during the party. No idea why they have buckets, they have them all over Thailand but they are cool so I'm not complaining. One of the good things about the buckets are that they are so cheap which means the party is not only an amazing night but a very cheap one to boot. There was also several first aid tents dotted along the beach, was not expecting that at all, it seemed far to organized for Thailand !!

Fire, UV, Spot lights, bass and lasers play a lot bigger party of the night of the full moon. With far more fire jugglers and massive spot lights shooting out over the beach. It added to the atmosphere so much it was cool as.

Somehow managed to bump into several people we had meet along the way during our travels in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia which was such a surprise considering how many people were there very random but was quality to catch up with them.

Unfortunatly I did not make it to sunrise as by about 5am I really was not starting to feel well. I am not sure exactly what it was (more than likly the buckets) but I was starting to get the worst stomach ache. It was annoying as I did taint the night quite a bit and also made me have to go home earlier than planned. I guess though 5am is a fairly respectable time to make it to as I don't think I have ever been out that long back home.

I think something else that was great abou the Full Moon was just the fact there was such a good vibe there. I don't know if its the people the party attracts or just the atmophere of the place rubbing off on everyone but it just seemed like everyone was there was an awesome time and party down on the beach. There just didn't seem to be any trouble kicking off anywhere and people just seemed to be generaly looking out for each other as well. I guess it all came down to the fact there were just none of the usual "Wankers" you can expect to see on a night out back home. It was great.

Looking back it was a quality night one I will never forget and one which will stand out as one of the highlights of my whole trip. I just want to be back there right now as I think about it writing this : ( Definite highlight fo' sure and something I will definitily do again if I make it back to Thailand in the next few years.

Anyway here are some photos and videos of the night. Amazing...