Koh Phangan

Day 271 (March 26, 2019) - Koh Phangan, Thailand

After spending ten days in Malaysia for our visa run, it was time to head back into Thailand. The plan was to first spend eight nights in Koh Phangan, an island known for two diametrically opposed things: full moon parties and its conscious community. 


Getting to Koh Phangan took a bit of effort. We took a train from Penang, Malaysia to the border town of Padang Basar. Here we went through immigration. The Thai immigration officers in this town were quite cranky and harsh. They were demanding from a few of the tourists, including me, that they show 10,000 baht (about US$300), to make sure we had enough money to get by in Thailand without having to work. I guess we looked like grubby backpackers this time, as this demand was a first for us going through immigration in any country. I pulled out my wad of emergency US$100 bills, and the Thai immigration officer put on a sheepish look and quickly stamped my passport with a visa good for another 30 days.

The Thai sleeper train actually ran all the way to Bangkok, but we would be getting off at about the halfway point at a town called Surat Thani. Here we spent the night, and the next morning we took a ferry from there to Koh Phangan. It was quite the journey to get from Georgetown to Koh Phangan: a ferry (~15 min), to a train (~60 min), to another train (~6.5 hours) to a taxi, to a hotel, to a shuttle van, to a ferry (~2.5 hours) to a shuttle van, to finally make it to our hotel in Koh Phangan. The sleeper train was actually quite nice. We each had our own bunk bed with privacy curtain, so we could sleep or read the whole way. 

Thai sleeper train. There were top and bottom bunks along with side with privacy curtains.

Koh Phangan is well-known for its full moon parties, which take place at Sunrise Beach on Haad Rin (a peninsula on the southern part of the island). What exactly is a full moon party you ask? It's basically a giant booze-infused beach party on the night of the full moon that goes from dusk until the sun comes up the next morning, if you can make it that long. Usually the party is on the night of the full moon, but it can be moved a few days before or after if there is a Buddhist holiday. Most people wear blacklight-visible body paint that they put on themselves or pay one of the many street artists to do for them. The drink of choice is a "bucket," which is basically a plastic sandbox-type bucket you can get from dozens of vendors on or near the beach that is filled with a small bottle of liquor, a can of mixer, and a bottle of Red Bull. Several straws are added, as you are meant to share it and make friends.

The origins of the full moon party are disputed, but one version says that, after an extended stay on Koh Phangan, a backpacker was leaving the island for good. His friends threw him a going away party on the beach on the night of a full moon, and the party lasted until dawn. The party was repeated monthly and, through word of mouth, made it into one of the biggest must-go parties in Thailand. Whatever the origins, it's now a huge draw for tourists, with 30,000+ tourists attending each month.

For us, the full moon party was taking place on March 20, so we decided to arrive a few days early to get settled. It turns out this was necessary, as most of the hotels in the area have a 3-5+ night minimum stay around the full moon. Sunrise Beach (where the full moon party takes place) is a nice stretch of sand with many bars and restaurants. At night, even on non-full moon nights, usually have some sort of party going on. We attended one of those parties the first night we were there, where one of the bars had a fire show and loud music playing.

Sunrise Beach by day.

Sunrise Beach by night. This party was going the night we arrived (a few days before the full moon party).

On the day of the full moon party, Mark and I tried to rest up as much as possible for the coming night. We slept in, laid in bed for most of the day, and didn't venture out for the party until about 8:30pm. We decided to go to a hostel in town to get a few drinks before heading to the beach. Mostly we wanted to try and meet some people that we could hang out with at the beach party, as this would make it more fun. We ended up meeting a nice couple from Germany that we hung out with the whole night. The hostel had some free jars of body paint out along with some paintbrushes, so Mark did my body paint (looked pretty good) and I did his (looked not so good). After having a few beers, meeting some new German friends, and being sufficiently covered in some body paint designs, we were ready to head to the beach party.

My body paint, courtesy of Mark.

Blacklit body paint on my back, by Mark.

Mark's body paint, which I put on him. I have no artistic ability.

Mark talking with our German friends.

The full moon party itself was insanely packed with people. While the beach was quite large, in many sections you were packed in like sardines and could barely move. There was lots of dancing, as well as lots of drinking going on. Buckets were being sold from various vendors right on the beach, and they would name their drink stand some sort of common English name like "Mike's" to hopefully make all the Mikes buy their drinks from that stand. It worked I think. I went up to someone who had just bought a drink from a stand named "Dave's" and asked if his name was Dave. He said yes.

The crowded beach during the full moon party.

Mimi's drink stand (Mark's grandmother's name). No Mimi, we didn't buy any drinks here - we got them cheaper from a drink stand farther from the beach.

The locals staff all of the drink stands, and it is pretty clear they are used to scamming drunk tourists at the full moon party. One stand tried to scam us, but it was the very beginning of the night, and we were nowhere close to falling for their shenanigans. Here's what happened: We went to a drink stand to buy a bucket. We pointed to the exact bucket we wanted, which was a bucket holding a full, unopened bottle of a name brand Thai rum (Sangsom), along with a bottle of Red Bull and a can of coke. We negotiated the price and we both agreed. The person then opened a different (cheaper) brand of rum. When we protested, she said "same same." We said no, and then she said "but I already opened it." We told her we wanted the rum we originally agreed to. You see, she was trying to pawn off a cheaper, off-branded rum on us, which wasn't worth the price we agreed to. We wanted the name brand, which we felt was safer. She reluctantly opened the rum we wanted, but then "forgot" to give us our change. Clearly she had done this before to drunk tourists and it had worked. We got our change after we pointed out the oversight, and she tried to put on her most apologetic (yet still quite fake) face.

We had heard from multiple sources to be very careful of the drink stands at the full moon party. There are horror stories of tourists getting drugged from one of these buckets, because the seller will use a resealed bottle that they've added drugs to to knock you out. They then have another local follow you around until you pass out, which is when they mug you. So we were very careful to get only unopened bottles that appeared to not be tampered with. Luckily, we had no issues with getting drugged...only attempted scams.

There were some restrooms near the beach offering facilities for a small fee, but most guys ended up just peeing in the ocean. While this wouldn't be acceptable on any other beach in Thailand, everyone, including Thai authorities, appeared to look the other way on Sunrise Beach. We had read that the beach gets turned into a toilet on the full moon party night, and we witnessed this issue during the party, and even the evening prior. That's one reason we never set foot in the water on Sunrise Beach the whole time we were there.

We didn't end up making it until dawn on the night of the full moon party. While we probably could have made it, we decided at some point that there was no good reason to stay up that long. We were tired and just wanted to go to bed. Maybe we're getting old. But perhaps we're also now capable of recognizing a useless goal such as waiting for the sun to rise. 

Overall, it certainly was an experience. We can now say we've been to THE full moon party on Haad Rin. Honestly, though, I preferred the smaller party nights we experienced on Haad Rin leading up to the full moon party night. It was just too overly packed with people during the full moon party, making it more stressful than fun. On the way home, we stopped at a food place that served chicken schnitzel sandwiches, along with all the sauces you can possibly imagine. I love dousing my food with copious amounts of sauces, so I was in heaven. We actually went to this same place a couple nights before. While we don't have any pictures of this place from the night of the full moon party, here's a picture from that previous night.

Showing off all the sauces they give you at the chicken schnitzel place.

Moving from Haad Rin to Sri Thanu.

After spending four nights in Haad Rin, we moved about 18 km north on the island to a zone (Sri Thanu) known for its "conscious community." This community is made up of young expats that are living in somewhat of a utopia for them: there's lots of yoga, meditation, veganism/vegetarianism, spirituality, connectedness, etc. Everyone is very friendly and in-tune with their inner selves. Don't ask me exactly what that means, but hopefully you get the picture.

Various events offered at one of the venues.

We decided that since we were staying in the area, we might as well make the most of the various events that were offered. My friend Kyle from high school now lives in this community on the island, so we met up with him a few times, and he gave us some information on various events that were happening. The first night we were there, we went to an ecstatic dance event. Basically, various types of music are played and you are meant to dance and move in whatever way you desire, without judgment from anyone there. You just let the music take you away. No drugs or alcohol are allowed at the event, and you cannot come trashed either. It's like sober dancing at a nightclub with the lights a little brighter than usual...all of which we aren't used to. Cameras aren't allowed either, so I don't have any pictures to share.

The event started with a Cacao Ceremony, where we drank a cacao drink (without sugar, so it tasted a bit terrible). It's meant as a medicine to open your heart and make you better able to connect with your inner self and the people around you. I'm not sure if it did anything, but we tried it and hoped for the best. The ceremony was led by a person who guided you in meditation, as well as gently started gearing you up for the ecstatic dancing that was about to take place. During the meditation, we sat cross-legged on a mat while soft gentle music was played. It was quite useful to calm me down, since I was a bit nervous for the ecstatic dancing that was coming later. After the meditation, we were told to get up and start moving slowly, however our body wished to move. That entailed walking around the room slowly. At this point, we were told to make eye contact with someone near us. I was near a woman, and we stared into each other's eyes for several minutes. It's a bit intimidating to do this with anyone, let alone a stranger. I'm not completely sure of the point of this exercise, but at least it made me feel like I had a friend there (we said hi later that night and then a few days later when we bumped into each other). 

After this staring exercise was completed, the ecstatic dancing started. The music picked up and everyone started getting into it. Some people were doing the standard dance floor shuffle you usually see at clubs, but most people were letting the music take them away. It took me a bit to get into it, and to realize that nobody around you was judging you, and eventually I let loose: swinging arms, jumping up and down in a dancing sort of way, and trying to be in the moment. I've done this alone in front of a mirror before, but not in public without a drink in my hand. It was an interesting experience. I would probably try it again, but I'm not clambering to do so. Mark enjoyed it too I think, but I don't think he let loose as much as I did...I think he was too self-conscious that I was there.

Another night we were there, we went to an event called Shamanic Sound Healing. We didn't know exactly what to expect, but the title made it sound like we'd get to listen to some interesting sounds, so we went for it. The event was in a circular studio, and everyone laid down on the floor with their heads toward the middle, and their feet facing the outer walls. Apparently this is to channel any energy coming from the sky, into our heads, and out our feet. We closed our eyes and the person leading the sound healing played various instruments while we relaxed: guitar, chimes, gongs, flute, etc. There was a dog that had tried to come in to the room, and he kept getting kicked out. Eventually, the dog was allowed to stay because it was too hard to keep him out. By the time the session was over, we all sat up, and the dog had passed out on a cushion in the room. The dog clearly had enjoyed the session, and so did we. We'd be up for another shamanic sound healing, as it was very relaxing (Mark certainly would be. I told him just now I was writing about the shamanic sound healing, and he said "I loved the sound healing.").

The circular studio where our shamanic sound healing took place.

My friend Kyle said we should go to a sunset at Zen Beach, where a lot of people congregate at sunset while hanging out and playing music. When we got there, we were a little early for sunset, so we decided to go for a walk down the beach. Turns out the extreme northern end of Zen Beach is a nude beach. There were a few dozen people scattered along this portion of the beach, a majority of them hanging out in their birthday suits. I suppose we could have joined them, since we brought our birthday suits with us, but didn't quite have the motivation required to make it happen. 

Sitting back down in the central part of Zen Beach where most people were gathering (and away from the nudists), people started playing music on drums and guitars. A circle formed and there was some dancing going on. It was a nice place to relax, listen to music, and watch the sunset.

People gathered to listen to music and watch the sunset.

Sunset on Zen Beach.

These last four days while in Koh Phangan we had to rent a scooter. It was the only way to easily get around. There are no taxis or Ubers, and while we could have walked, the island is too big to make this feasible. So, we rented a scooter for four days, which allowed to to explore more of the island, and to make it to these events I discussed above. We got to see other beaches, a temple (Wat Samai Kongka), and the surrounding areas. 

Our scooter in Koh Phangan.

Mae Haad Bay.

Wat Samai Kongka.

Haad Yao.

Sunset at Haad Chao.

Overall we had a great time in Koh Phangan, both during the full moon party, as well as in the relaxation/conscious community zone. Even though it took seemingly forever to get there from Malaysia, it was well worth the effort.