FESTIVALS - FULLMON PARTY

Festivals - Full Moon Party  
Koh Samui is a party island and celebrates everything !!!
Look at the signs and advertisements. We celebrate the full moon, the dark moon, Mondays!, Buddhist holidays, Christian holidays, Party Days from St. Patrick's Day to Halloween! AND New Years!! More than once. The most important dates are :

New Year's Celebrations

The traditional December 31st New Year is celebrated with much enthusiasm. It is also a Public Holiday. The Chinese New Year usually in February based upon the lunar calendar. This celebration takes several days. And The Thai New Year, Songkran, starting on the 13th of April and lasting at least 2 or 3 days, depending on where you are in Thailand. This is the Water Holiday and any one in Thailand during this time will be wet!

Loy Krathong

This beautiful and festive holiday is celebrated throughout Thailand. The timing of this event is based on the lunar calendar and is held on the Full Moon in November. Thai's and visitors alike construct or purchase Krathongs. These small boats are decorated and contain 3 sticks of incense, a candle, a coin and other items. The candles are lighted and placed in the water. The major festival area on Koh Samui is the Big Buddha.

Full Moon Party  

There are about 10,000-20,000 people participating every month at this Koh Phangan beach party. It is known as the Full Moon Party. International and Thai DJ's makes the crowd dance and go wild. Just paint yourself in UV colors and let your body lose control.

The DJ's play all kinds of music; Techno, Trance, Goa, Drum n Bass, Dub, Reggae, "commercial hits", House etc on about 15 sound systems along Haad Rin beach.

The beach has been equipped with small tables where you can sit down with your friends or meet new ones from all over the globe. Drinks and food can be ordered from the restaurants and the bars along the Had Rin Nok beach.
Don't waste your time on the Fullmoon Party if you don't like to meet people from all over the world. There are thousands of happy guys and gals dancing to pumping beats on


a "paradise beach" in the moonlight. Or sit in the sand at the small tables with some friends and cheer a "Thai whiskey set" with local spirits like Meakong or SangSom.













If you prefer beer, try a cold Thai beer such as Singha, Beer Chang, Archa or Kloster etc. There are also other beer brands available, such as Heineken, Tiger, and Corona etc. and of course a number of non-alcoholic alternatives such as Gatorade and other sports drinks, fruit juices, fruit shakes and soft drinks.

If you are into dancing, do not forget to drink a lot of water so you won't end up dehydrated. Delicious traditional Thai food as well as pasta, pizza, burgers, salads, soups etc. is found in the restaurants and at food stalls. Prices are often very reasonable.

ATM machines, accepting VISA, Mastercard (Maestro/Cirrus) etc. are available at the beach road. Also a few money exchange offices (mini banks or micro brands) are found here, so if you own a card, you do not have to bring a lot of cash to the party.

Important: Please keep the beaches clean and be gentle with the natural resources on Koh Phangan Safety and Drugs

The Fullmoon Party is usually a safe place but please keep in mind; keep all values at home in a safe place such a safety deposit box. Otherwise you might loose them, or make a thief happy. Be careful to walk away with strangers you don't know. Stay away from drugs, unless you don't like Thai prisons or want to end up in a "crazy hospital" in Suratthani.
There are undercover police officers out there. Our suggestion is to stay away from so called diet pills ("blue-whites"). People have become seriously sick after consuming too many of these without a prescription from a doctor.
Caffeine/Taurin drinks such as Lipovitan, Red Bull, M-150, Carabao Daeng etc. can be bought almost everywhere. To most people, they are harmless if you are not allergic, or drink too many as caffeine in extreme dosages are probably not that good either. Not many wise people drink 20 cups of coffee either. Do not accept drinks from unknown people and keep an eye on your own. This is not an attempt to be a moral guide; we are just trying to tell the actual facts.

Going there

From Koh Samui


There are boats leaving several times daily from Big Buddha Pier (Bang Rak) and Maenam. Just book your ferry ticket in any travel agency on the island, or directly on the pier. You can also go by a speed-boat from the piers at Bo Phut or Maenam, in northern Koh Samui.

Speed boat Time table service including transfer from Samui Hotel

**Price – Roundtrip ticket cost 700 THB per person
Boats included:

• Insurance
• Transfer service

Map Koh PhanGan

From Bangkok or other Destinations

you can go to Suratthani either by bus, train or flight. There are then several ferry companies operating from the main land to Koh Phangan: Seatran, Lomprayah and Songserm. We would recommend you to take a ferry from one of the piers in Donsak, situated 45 kilometers east of Suratthani town. The Lomprayah catamaran offers high speed service from Chumpon via Koh Tao to Koh Phangan. Buy your ticket in any travel agency in Bangkok.

Try to book a bungalow or room in advance. There are a lot of people staying overnight so it can be really difficult to get a bungalow in the early morning, especially during the party.
Important: We recommend you to wear shoes or strong sandals. Avoid to dance or walking around barefoot. If you step on a broken bottle, your holiday can be ruined. On your body you need "only" some UV color.

Other Moon Parties

You might also want to visit the Black Moon and Half Moon Parties arranged at Koh Samui and Koh Phangan. The location for these parties tends to change. The Black Moon Parties on Samui was often held at Chaweng “Lake View“. They also use to have a Black Moon Party on Had Rin beach on Phangan nowadays. Also there is a Half Moon Party at Koh Phangan rather near Bang Tai and Thongsala on the road to Thong Nai Pan

HMONG MARKET RECOMMENDATION

Hmong Market Recommendation Walking Street

Hmong


A tribe well-famed for throwing in their lot with western powers during two Indochinese wars: first with the French in Vietnam and then with the Americans during the secret war in Laos. Unfortunately both wars ended in defeat, which means these guys have suffered greatly at the hands of barbaric communist governments, bordering on genocide after the Vietnam War.

While you’re in Thailand try to hunt down a copy of "The Ravens" and "Tragic Mountains" for some very excellent Hmong-related reading. In both books the Hmong are referred to as a "nation without a country", which is a phrase often used when referring to their vast numbers scattered throughout Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and China.

There are approx 100,000 Hmong in Thailand, and at the time of writing a further 30,000 refugees in long-term refugee camps along the northeastern Thai border, a legacy of the Vietnam War.

The Hmong live in houses that sit right on the ground, not on stilts like most other hill-tribes. However, the main floor of their house is slightly raised due to a kind of basement "root cellar" that they use for food storage. The Hmong are a diligent, tenacious, patient and independent people and were greatly respected by both French and American armies. They are much devoted to the sky spirit they believe has created both the world and their own ancient way of life. So far there have been very few converts to Christianity or Buddhism.

Lamai Plaza Walking Street

Here you can enjoy shopping at the small Hmong market browsing and taking in the Hmong culture (The northern Hill tribe). You'll find gifts such as wood carvings, Hmong clothes to jewellery as well as other handmade souvenirs, known as "Otop product".

Market is open from 14.00 till late.